From The Movies
by Minstrel164
Summary: A collection of stories based on Movies and TV shows featuring Rick and Kate
1. Chapter 1

From The Movies

Chapter 1

Caskett Actually

(Otherwise known as Love Actually)

**Author's note:**

_**For some time now I have wanted to do this, write stories based on movies. Finally, I have started the ball rolling. This is not going to be a single story but rather a collection of stories that I will be posting from time to time, or when the inspiration takes me. As the title suggests, I will be taking scenes from movies, and the occasional TV show, and giving them the Castle/Caskett treatment. Some of the stories you will recognise and others you may not. All the stories will be from movies that I've liked. There will be drama, comedy and some romance thrown in. There will be some of you who will remember the two stories I wrote based on movies. This project is a continuation of that but in a shorter form, either one or two chapters. I would love to hear what you think of this and whether I should continue with it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this first story.**_

XXXX

Richard Castle manoeuvred the early model Citroen through the narrow winding road past the vineyard on his left and the olive grove on his right. The late morning was clear of clouds and the sun was reasonably warm. It was only now, as he was nearing his destination that he was starting to relax.

It had taken him longer than he had expected to get a hire car at the airport. It seemed to him that the clerk at the hire car desk wanted to make him go through a number of hoops before he deigned to give him a hire car. Being a famous author, the writer of crime and mystery novels that were best sellers had no affect on the desk clerk.

Castle had been close to losing his temper as he was forced to go through this officious rigmarole. He had arrived late into Paris from a long trans Atlantic flight and had just managed to catch the connecting flight to Cannes in the south of France. He had wanted a sporty German coupé or an Italian one but the desk clerk had sniffed and told him he didn't have any of those models available. Castle said he would be happy with a late model French vehicle only to be told there none available. He had to settle with an early model but still serviceable Citroen. He took it and could not get out of Cannes fast enough.

The vineyard gave way to another olive grove. These older trees looked like they had been here for centuries had branches which over-hanged the road creating a shady canopy. It would have pleasant during the height of summer. A smile appeared on Castle's face. The villa that he had hired for a couple of months was less than a mile away.

Castle had been coming to this part of Provence for several years. He found it a great part of the world. Cannes and was less than a hundred miles to the east and Nice was a little further to the north east. Those towns came alive during the summer months as tourists flooded the region in their droves. During the autumn and winter months they were a little quiet. Provence in the off season was perfect and allowed him to concentrate on his writing and fishing his books.

This year Castle had not intended to come back. He was going to give it a miss and go some place else just for something different. That had been the plan but those plans had changed following the failure of his marriage. The last thing he wanted to do was remain in New York in the ruins of his second failed marriage.

Castle spotted the turn off for the villa a short distance up ahead and he slowed down. He took the turn and found himself on a dusty unpaved road.

Passing through the two stone pillars that served as a front gate the dirt road opened up fifty yards later onto a wide forecourt with the villa in the background. Castle saw that there was a car already parked in front of the villa. He parked his car in the spot reserved for the occupants of the villa.

Castle took a moment to gaze at the villa and a smile rose to his face. The villa was a single storey building with about seven or eight rooms. It had a wide verandah at the front. A small copse of fruit trees grew nearby and they provided welcome shade from the sun during the heat of summer. On the verandah itself there was a wooden table and a set of chair that was a perfect place to lounge away the hours late in the afternoon or early evening.

Castle remembered that there was another verandah at the back that was bigger than the one at the front and it overlooked a wide expanse of lawn that sloped down all the way to the lake that formed end of the property. At the water's edge was a small wooden jetty that was the perfect spot for tying up small boats and canoes.

What attracted Castle to this small villa was the impressive study the owner had created. Three walls of the study were lined with floor to ceiling shelves that were crammed with books that were mostly in French but there was a significant assortment of tomes in other languages including English. What sold Castle on the villa had been the large oak desk that sat in front of wide windows that over looked the back lawn. The complete collection of his published books did not hurt either.

The front door of the villa opened and Madam Eleanor stepped onto the verandah. Madam Eleanor was a woman aged in her early sixties with a jovial looking face and well coiffured dark brown hair. Her stout looking body was encased in a dark coloured business pants suit. She was a realtor located in the nearby village and acted as the agent for this villa.

Castle turned on his most charming smile as he got out of the car and crossed the small distance to where Madam Eleanor was standing.

"Ah, bonjour Madam Eleanor." Castle said happily in his broken French.

"Bonjour, Monsieur Rick, welcome back."

Castle was greeted in the traditional French manner, a kiss on both cheeks before he was released by the older woman.

"This year you bring Madam Rick?" She asked.

The smile on Castle's face faltered at the mention of his ex-wife.

"No. There's been a change of my situation. It's just me."

Madam Eleanor eyed the author carefully and nodded her head knowingly. Castle could tell that the news of his divorce had reached these shores.

"Oh. Am I sad or not sad?" She asked.

"I think you're not surprised."

Last year when he had been here with his then wife Gina they had gotten into a knock down drag out fight. It had started over the fact that Gina had wanted to fly up to Paris for the weekend to do some shopping and dine out at some of the better quality restaurants. Castle on the other hand had wanted to remain at the villa. He was engrossed in writing his book that he did not want any distractions like flying to Paris for the weekend. That's when the fight started.

Castle at the time had found it a little odd she would argue with him about finishing his book. She was his publisher after all. It was in the middle of their most serious fight when Madam Eleanor arrived and witnessed it. In the end Gina had taken the car and left, going to Paris for the weekend and then flying back to New York on the Monday morning.

"You will stay here till Christmas?" Madam Eleanor asked.

"Yes." Castle confirmed.

The plan was that he would spend the next few weeks finishing his latest novel and just before Christmas he would head home. He did not want to miss Christmas with his family, his mother and especially his daughter Alexis.

"Good." Madam Eleanor said. "Well, I find you a perfect lady to clean the house."

Castle stifled the groan that threatened to leave his mouth. He had not forgotten the cleaning woman Madam Eleanor had gotten him last year. She had been a nice enough old crone who spoke not a word of English. Gina had given up trying to speak to her within the first hour. When Castle tried to speak to her in his mangled French it reduced the old woman into fits of laughter. Reduced to communicating using pidgin sign language Castle managed to get the message across and on the whole the house had been kept clean.

XXX

Kate Beckett stood in the study of the villa that Madam Eleanor had brought her to. She was standing by the large oak desk and gazed out the window across the lawn to the lake in the distance. She and Madam Eleanor had arrived about half an hour ago and the realtor had given her a tour of the villa.

The place was not very large not like some of the other villas that were closer to the coast but it was comfortable, homey even. Kate rather liked it and came to the realisation that it would not take a lot of effort to keep it clean. She had a feeling that this was going to be the easiest money she would earn. And she needed the money.

Having finished a semester in Kiev where she had been brushing up on her Russian Kate had not been in any hurry to return to New York and back to her old life. Instead, she had decided to travel through Europe. Doing a grand tour of sorts on a budget. She found work where she could and when she had earned enough money she would move onto another city or country. It had been fun and interesting.

She had arrived in Cannes a couple of days ago after having spent two weeks in Northern Italy. It was in a small café where she ran into Madam Eleanor. Through a smattering of broken French and Russian Kate managed to convey to the older woman that she was looking for work. Madam Eleanor had been happy to offer Kate cleaning work so long as it was on the basis of cash under the table. Kate was happy to accept the terms and happier still that Madam Eleanor did not bother to ask for proof of identity or other kinds of paperwork. This was why Kate was standing in the study of the villa.

Dropping her gaze from the window she looked down at the oak desk. Her eyes settled on the old Smith Corona portable typewriter that held pride of place on the desk. It had been some years since she had last seen a typewriter and even longer when she had used one. These machines had gone the way of the Dodo, having been replaced by computers and laptops.

Turning away from the window Kate crossed the room and walked up to one of the bookshelves. She had been impressed by the array of books that sat on the shelves. It pleased her to see that there

were books in a number of languages not just in French. If she had the time she might brush up on her French or tackle Tolstoy's _War And Peace_ in the original Russian again.

Reaching out she ran her hand along the spines of a set of novels in what was the English language section of the library. She smiled at discovering the owner of the villa was a fan of Richard Castle.

As she inspected the novels she saw that the complete collection was here. There were a couple of books sitting on the shelf that she had not read yet. Perhaps she might get the opportunity to read these books.

Madam Eleanor had intimated to Kate that the person who had hired the villa was an author and he was coming here so that he could finish the latest book he was writing. Kate had tried to prise out the name of the author from the older woman but Madam Eleanor had refused to divulge the name. All she would say was that Kate would find out when he arrived.

In the silence of the study Kate heard the sound of a car arriving.

"He is here, Katya." Madam Eleanor called out.

'Katya' was the name Kate was calling herself. Katya Dimitrova from Kiev in the Ukraine. She had thought it would be amusing to travel through Europe a young Russian woman.

Kate dropped her hand from the books and turned away from the shelf. She walked out of the study and slowly made her way towards the front door. She could hear Madam Eleanor talking to a man. The man sounded American if she was not mistaken. Kate could not see who Madam Eleanor was talking to

"Good." Madam Eleanor said. "Well I find you a perfect lady to clean the house."

Kate opened the screen door and stepped out onto the verandah.

XXX

"This is Katya." Madam Eleanor announced proudly.

Castle began to turn to look at the woman that Madam Eleanor was pointing to, half expecting to find an elderly woman with a severe looking face and moustache covering her top lip. His mouth dropped open and his eyes widened with delighted surprise.

This was no old crone standing before him. He was gazing upon a vision of loveliness. Beautiful, was another word that leaped to mind. She was tall with brown hair that was shaped in a functional bob and just brushed her shoulders. It was her eyes that he was drawn to. Green orbs. Not green, his mind corrected, hazel. Hazel eyes with long lashes. Hazel eyes that sparkled with intelligence and amusement with a dash of mischief and something else that Castle could not quite put his finger on.

The young woman smiled shyly back at him and Castle suddenly realised that he was staring.

"Ah...um...er, bonjour, Katya." Castle stammered.

"Bonjour." Kate responded in a low voice.

Castle could not help but smile. "Er, je suis...er...tres heureux de vous avoir ici."

Madam Eleanor smirked. "Unfortunately, Monsieur Rick, she cannot speak French." She said. "Just like you."

Castle looked at the smirking older woman.

"She is Russian."

"Ah...Russian, I see."

Castle turned back to Kate and smiled at her.

"Dobryy den', Katya." He said and immediately his smile faltered as he realised that he had just exhausted all of his known Russian. He started to ramble. "Ah...um...Olga Korbut...er...er..."

"I think she is much too young to remember the gymnast named Olga Korbut, Monsieur Rick." Madam Eleanor pointed out.

"Right...um...Nadia Comaneci..."

"Still too young to remember Comaneci, and she was Romanian." Madam Eleanor provided helpfully.

"Right, right...Katarina Witt!" Castle beamed.

"She was German." Madam Eleanor supplied, desperately trying to keep a straight face as she watched the man flounder.

Castle shot a glare at the French woman before he turned back to a smiling Katya.

"Right. Anyway, it's nice to meet you."

"Priyatno poznakomit'sya, Monsieur Rick." Kate replied, informing him that it was good to meet him too.

"Perhaps you can driver her home after her work, yes?" Madam Eleanor asked.

Castle nodded his head. "El..pl-plesura." He said.

"Which is what? Turkish?" Madam Eleanor laughed as she stepped off the verandah and walked to where her car was.

Castle watched as Madam Eleanor drove away. Slowly he turned to face Kate.

"Well, here we are." He said. "I'm going to get my things from the car. You can go inside and make yourself at home."

The smile disappeared from Kate's face and she gave him a puzzled and questioning look.

Castle started to mangle a few words of French only to remember that Katya did not understand French. Suddenly he had a stroke of genius, at least he thought so. He resorted to pantomime gestures to explain what he was going to do and what he wanted her to do. After several attempts Kate pursed her lips desperately trying not to burst into laughter at Castle's antics. She nodded her head as if to say that she understood.

She watched as Castle marched over to where he had parked his car and removed the suitcases and large shoulder bag from the boot of the car. On his return Kate opened the screen door for him.

"Spasibo." Castle said, suddenly remembering the only other word of Russian in his vocabulary.

"Ne za chto." Kate replied.

Reaching the main living room area of the villa, Castle came to a halt. He felt exhausted. The jet lag from the two flights not to mention the tiring encounter with hire car desk clerk had finally caught up with him. He stifled a yawn. On both flights he had not bothered to go to sleep. He had stayed awake working, outlining the remaining chapters of his still unfinished book. He set the two suitcases down and slowly turned to look at Kate.

"I'm tired, jet lagged actually, I'm going to go to bed." He informed Kate.

Kate's forehead creased into a frown.

"Sleep...you know... siesta?" Castle struggled as he tried to explain.

"Siesta?" Kate ventured, still frowning.

"Yes, siesta." Castle replied. He put his hands together and rested his head on his hands and closed his eyes, mimicking sleep."

"Ah..._son_...siesta..da." Kate replied as she smiled and nodded her head, understanding what he meant.

Pleased with himself at being able to communicate with this beautiful woman Castle turned and walked out of the living room and headed to the bedroom that was adjacent to the study. He closed the door. The strap of the shoulder bag slid of his shoulder and the bag landed on the floor. He stumbled over to the bed and fell face down upon it. Sleep took hold of him as soon as he closed his eyes.

XXX

Kate watched as Castle shuffled out of the living room. She waited until she heard the door of the bedroom close before she spun around and let out a laugh. The laughter was quickly accompanied by a little happy dance.

She could not believe that of all the authors in the world she could be working for it just had to be her favourite author. What kind of luck was that, she wondered to herself? She had almost given herself away the moment she had stepped onto the verandah and clamped eyes on him. The urge to squeal like some deranged fan girl had been great but somehow she had managed to control herself, just.

She clamped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing and rushed out of the living room relocating herself to the kitchen. Taking a deep breath she managed to bring herself under control. Kate realised that she was stuck with playing the role of Katya Dimitrova, the Russian housekeeper. Could she pull it off without Richard Castle finding out? That remained to be seen but the mischievous streak within her was going to have fun with it for as long as possible.

Surveying the kitchen, Kate found it to be functional but still retained a rustic feel. There was an array of modern kitchenware and appliances, like a stove and dishwasher as well as the usual toasters, blenders and so on. It was the impressive espresso machine that caught her eye.

Seeing the espresso machine Kate was reminded that she had not had a decent cup of coffee since she had left Italy. Pushing herself off the bench she had been leaning against she commenced to search through the cupboards looking for coffee beans. She found a large packet in the third cupboard she searched through. Ten minutes later she was holding a steaming cup of black coffee in her hands.

XXX

Kate rode up to the villa on the Vespa scooter she had borrowed from a friend in the village. It was nowhere near as powerful as the motorbikes she was used to riding back home but it sufficed as a mode of transport in getting from the village to the villa. Keeping to the speed limit on the small narrow roads may not have been something she had observed on the ride over. It had been some time since she had ridden a motorbike and she had pushed the Vespa to its limits and a little beyond, enjoying the feeling of freedom she experienced.

She had been forced to finding her own way to the villa this morning because Madam Eleanor, who had been driving her each morning for the past week, had some family emergency to attend to in Avignon and was going to be away for a week or so. Kate experienced a small panic as she wondered how she was going to get to the villa but a friend had come to the rescue giving her a loan of the Vespa.

Kate came to a halt in front of the villa. She gave the Vespa a quick rev up before she switched off the engine. She put the scooter on its stand and got off it. She pulled off the black helmet she had been wearing and immediately noticed that Castle's car was not in it's usual spot.

She checked her watch. She was late for sure but did not think she was _that_ late. A couple of hours at the most she concluded after checking her watch. A frown creased her forehead as she hooked the helmet on the handle of the scooter and headed for the front door. Had Castle gone off in search of her when she had not arrived at the usual time this morning, she wondered?

It would be so like him, Kate realised. In the week she had been working for the famous author she had found him to be nothing but kind and considerate. Not to mention amusing. He still mangled several languages when trying to communicate with her but his pantomime skills had improved considerably over the past week. She found that amusing and not a little adorable. There had been a couple of moments where she thought about dropping the act she had been putting on but she did not. She was really enjoying playing Katya.

Walking up to the front door Kate found that it was not locked. Slowly she pushed open the door and cautiously entered.

"Monsieur Rick?" Kate called out.

There was no response.

"Monsieur Rick?" She called, a little louder.

Trying not to feel worried Kate made her way to the kitchen. She surveyed the kitchen carefully. The sink had been piled up with dirty dishes from the evening meal he had cooked last night. She had left them there so that she could wash them first thing when she came to the villa. The sink was empty of any dishes. Castle must have washed and put them away when he had gotten back to the villa after having taken her home last night. That was another thing Kate had discovered about the man. Richard Castle was a pretty good cook.

Turning away from the sink Kate's eyes settled on the two large mugs that were sitting on the bench beside the espresso machine. Beside the mugs was a balled up bag of coffee beans. Spotting nothing untoward Kate left the kitchen and searched the rest of the place.

Her next stop was Castle's bedroom. Perhaps he might have slept in, she thought to herself. She knocked softly on the door.

"Monsieur Rick?"

Getting no response, she knocked a little more loudly on the door and opened it. She was surprised to find that the bed had been made. It was her job to make the bed each morning. She had found that Castle was an early riser and started writing almost immediately. It was fascinating watching her favourite author when he was working. She had discovered that Castle entered a zone of total concentration when he was writing. A bomb could go off and he would not even notice it. She did not mind that, to be sure. He was working on his latest novel and she was eager for him to finish so that she could read it.

The other morning she had arrived to find that he was in a zombie-like state. After much effort and miscommunication she was able to deduce Castle had been up all night writing. He did not protest when she had manoeuvred him out of the study and put him to bed. She had the house practically to herself for the rest of the day. She had spent most of the day reading those Richard Castle books she had not read before.

As hard as she tried not to, Kate was starting to get worried. Had something happened to him? Leaving the doorway she crossed the bedroom and marched up to the door that lead into the study.

Opening the door she peered into the study and found it was empty. The tendrils of concern began to grow and take hold in the pit of Kate's stomach as she slowly walked into the study and made her way to the desk.

Despite her concern for him a small smile smile rose to her lips as she remembered his excitement when he had spotted the old typewriter sitting on the desk. He had been like a kid in a candy shop, that was the only description she could attach to the way he looked. For the entire week the place reverberated with the sound of the clattering typewriter as he worked to finish his latest book.

Kate's eyes shifted from the typewriter to the writing pad that was beside it. She picked up the writing pad and almost let out a loud sigh of relief. She huffed out a laugh instead. On the writing pad was a hastily drawn stick figure with a downward smile on its face. The stick figure was holding a cup in one hand and a bag of coffee upside down in the other. Underneath the stick figure had been written: _'Nyet coffee'._

The silly man had dropped everything when he had discovered that there was no coffee in the house. Kate shook her head at Castle's impulsiveness. She dropped the writing pad back on the desk. Her eyes drifted across the desk past the typewriter and settled on the neat stack of typewritten pages.

Almost from the moment he had sat down at the desk and started typing Kate had been curious about what this latest novel was going to be like. What adventures was his hero Derrick Storm going to get involved with? As she stared down at the written pages she was just itching to pick them up and start reading. Her inner fan girl was screaming at her to do just that. She had waited for long enough. How could it hurt if she snuck a peak at what he had been writing? Yet Kate hesitated. Her responsible self was reminding her that she did not want to spoil the enjoyment of reading the finished product from start to finish.

As if it had a mind of its own, her hand reached down and gathered up the typed pages and picked them up off the desk.

"Honey, I'm home?" Castle called out in a cheerful voice.

Kate let out a squeak of surprise and almost dropped the pages she was holding, startled by the sound of Castle's voice. She had not even heard his car arrive. Quickly she recovered from her shock and put the pages back down on the desk. Hurriedly she tidied them up so that it did not look like she had been going through them.

"Did you miss me?"

Kate rolled her eyes at that remark. She stepped back from the desk and cast a final inspection to make sure that nothing looked out of place.

"Hey, is that your two-wheel chariot parked outside?" Castle called.

Satisfied that everything was as it should be she dashed out of the study. She came running into the kitchen and pulled up suddenly when she saw Castle. She desperately hoped she did not look too flustered.

Castle was standing by a bench setting down a pair of grocery bags. He turned around and greeted Kate with a warm smile.

"Ah, bonjour, Katya." He said.

"Bonjour, Monsieur Rick." Kate replied, carefully.

Castle turned to the grocery bags and dunked his hand into one of the bags and a moment later he he pulled out a large bag of coffee beans. He held it up for Kate to see.

"We ran out of coffee. Nyet coffee." Castle explained, looking a little apologetic.

Kate gave Castle a pursed lipped smile and nodded her head.

"Nyet, kofe." She said, remembering the note he had left her.

"Ah...yes. Nyet coffee." Castle said.

Castle turned around and opened the bag of coffee and then moved over to the espresso machine.

"And I know how much you like your coffee, this brand in particular." Castle added.

Kate's eyebrows shot up heavenwards and her mouth dropped open. For the life of her she could not remember indicating to him that she liked the coffee. Sure it was some of the best coffee she had ever tasted. And maybe, just maybe, the first time she had tasted it she may have closed her eyes as she savoured it and let out a small moan of delight. It did not occur to her that he might have been paying attention. Obviously he had been if he had dropped everything to go out and buy coffee when he had discovered he had run out, she thought to herself.

"Spasibo." Kate said.

"Ne za chto." Castle responded.

Kate's eyes rose up in surprise again on hearing him tell her that she was welcome in Russian. When did he start learning Russian, she wondered?

She watched Castle carefully. He certainly knew his way around an espresso machine. In fact he worked the machine far better than some of the trained baristas she had encountered in Milan.

A few minutes later he switched off the machine and picked up the two steaming mugs of coffee and walked over to where Kate was standing. He held out one of the mugs to her.

"There you go." He announced, as he passed over the mug.

"Tank you." Kate replied in heavily accented English as she took the offered mug.

"Well, I can't have you starting work without a good cup of coffee, now can I?" Castle chuckled.

Kate brought the mug up to her mouth. She blew on it a couple of times before she took a big of the coffee. A smile spread across her face and she nodded her head in approval. Looking up she found Castle looking at her intently.

"Good?"

"Da...good." Kate replied.

The smile Castle gave her almost turned Kate's legs to rubber. She brought the mug up to her lips and took another sip, turning her head so that he did not see the blush spreading across her cheeks.

"So, is that your scooter outside?" Castle inquired.

Kate turned her head to look at Castle and gave him a questioning look.

"Vroom...vroom, is it yours?" Castle said as he mimed turning a throttle handle and then pointing to Kate.

"Nyet." Kate shook her head. "Moi druz'ya."

Castle looked at her confused, not having understood what Kate had said.

"Um...ah...tavarishch." Kate said haltingly.

Castle's face clouded a little more then suddenly his face brightened.

"Friend?" He ventured.

"Da, da. Friend." Kate confirmed, smiling.

Castle nodded his head unable to keep the grin from his face, pleased that he had gotten it right. He took a sip of his coffee before he turned back to the bench where he had left the groceries.

"Would you like to stay for diner again, Katya?" He called over his shoulder.

Kate did not respond immediately she just stared at Castle, her mug of coffee suspended in mid air half way to her mouth.

When he did not get an answer Castle turned around and looked at the young woman.

"Dinner tonight?" He said. "I'm going to make coq au vin."

Getting a puzzled looked Castle mimed an eating action.

"Ah dinner." Kate nodded. "Da...yes."

"That's great." Castle said excitedly. "You're going to love it, I promise you."

Kate had no doubt about that if last night's meal was anything to go by.

She found herself smiling as she watched Castle unpack the grocery bags depositing the various items he had purchased into the fridge and cupboards, talking all the time. When he finished he turned around suddenly.

"I...go...work." Kate informed him.

"Work, yes." Castle said. "Which reminds me, I have a book to finish."

Kate gave him a quick smile before she walked out of the kitchen.

XXX

Kate stepped out of the car and waved her thanks to Madam Eleanor. She watched as the car drove away. A cold gust of wind tugged at her coat and she pulled the coat tighter against her then dug her hands into the pockets of the coat to keep them warm. She shivered a little as she had forgotten her scarf. The cold wind was a less than subtle reminder that winter was just around the corner. The weather forecasts were predicting snow in the not too distant future. The changing weather was reminder that her time here was drawing to an end.

When Madam Eleanor's car had disappeared from view Kate slowly turned around and faced the villa.

A smile broke across her face. She had not thought that she would enjoy working as a housekeeper when she had first gotten the job. At the time it was just a job to earn some money before she finally went home to New York. That attitude had changed when she had discovered that she was working for the famous author Richard Castle. The writer who was her favourite author. Much to her surprise she found that she really enjoyed working for him. She always looked forward to arriving at the villa. It was fun and he was fun to be around.

The smile on her face began to fade when her thoughts settled on the fact that all of this was soon to end. She had to return home and resume her studies. Castle too would be leaving soon now that he was nearly finished his book. Last night he had informed her in his inimitable way that he had only one more chapter to go and the book would be finished.

Shaking off her thoughts Kate started walking towards the front door of the villa. She forced a smile to her lips as she entered. She did not want him to see her looking unhappy. He would immediately start asking questions and she did not want to provide answers.

As she made her way to the kitchen she was about to call out to Castle when she heard his raised voice coming from the study. Kate could not quite make out what he was saying but she figured he must be on the telephone.

Kate went straight to the coffee machine. The smile on her face deepened when she spotted her mug sitting beside the espresso machine waiting for her. Of late when she walked into the kitchen in the morning, her mug would be there waiting for her. Sometimes it would be filled with steaming hot coffee. It was sweet of him to have her mug ready for her. Picking up the mug Kate placed it under the machine and switched it on. The machine hummed into life.

A few minutes later Kate picked up the mug and brought it up to her mouth. She took a sip of the hot black liquid. An appreciative murmur escaped from her pursed lips. Definitely her favourite brand of coffee. She could only wonder if she would be able to find it when she got home. She took another sip of the coffee and walked out of the kitchen.

Kate was drawn towards the study. The door was open and she slowly paused in the doorway. Castle was standing by the desk with a telephone stuck to his left ear. He was staring out the window.

"So, did you get up at five in the morning your time and call me to ask as my blood-sucking publisher or as my blood-sucking ex-wife?" Castle shouted down the phone.

Kate was shocked. She had never heard Castle shouting before. She hesitated in the doorway. She should not be standing there listening to what was obviously a private conversation but her legs were refusing to obey her command to leave.

"I'm not punishing you." Castle insisted. "And I'm certainly not killing off the Golden Goose."

Kate almost dropped the coffee mug at hearing what Castle had just said. Was he killing off Derrick Storm? No, that could not be right. He would not do that, surely?

"Why? Why what?" Castle asked. "Why am I killing off Derrick?"

Kate's mouth dropped open in shock.

"I'll tell you why. Writing Derrick used to be fun. Now it's like work."

Kate stared at the author too stunned to move. She definitely could not believe what she was hearing. Castle was killing off his most famous character. She saw Castle shake his head from side to side in response to something his publisher and ex-wife was saying, as if he was silently mocking her.

"Look, I don't know what you're worried about. Derrick Storm is not the Golden Goose. I am." Castle stated.

Kate found herself shaking her head as she continued to stare at the author.

"I don't know yet." Castle said. "I haven't decided how I'm going to kill him off. No, I'm not going to retire him...No, I'm not going to put him in a wheel chair permanently."

Kate slowly began to recover from the initial shock. She slowly brought the mug up to her mouth and took a big sip. She found that her mouth had suddenly gone dry.

"I might just put a bullet in his head." Castle announced.

Kate instantly spat out a mouthful of coffee back into the mug. It took everything she had not to start choking and remain silent.

"A big exit wound." Castle said gleefully, oblivious to the presence of his housekeeper. "Make it really messy."

Kate took a deep calming breath and found herself shaking her head in disbelief. She felt like she was a witness to a surreal scene that was unfolding before her. She had to get out of the room but her feet continued to refuse to budge.

"The longer you keep me on the phone berating me, the longer it's going to take for me to send you the final chapter." Castle announced. "Okay, okay...I said, OKAY! You'll get the damn final chapter by the end of the week."

Castle ended the call by angrily slamming the telephone receiver back in its cradle. He let out a frustrated sigh as he ran his hand through his hair. He turned around and was startled to find a shocked looking Kate standing in the doorway of the study.

"Oh, Katya. Um...I'm sorry you had to hear that." He said, looking a little sheepish. He pointed to the telephone. "That was my slave master calling from New York."

Kate nodded her head slowly. She saw the sheepish look disappear from his face as he forced a smile to his face.

"Dobroye utro, Katya." He said in heavily accented Russian.

"Bonjour, Monsieur Rick." Kate replied.

"Well." Castle stammered. He glanced out the window a moment before he looked back at Kate. "I think I'll do some writing outside today, near the lake."

Kate frowned at his announcement. The sky was getting overcast and the wind looked like it was going to pick up soon. She could not understand why he wanted to work outside.

"You know, outside..." He pointed out the window towards the pond. "Some fresh air...away from the telephone."

"Okay."

Well she could understand that. If he wanted to work outside in the cold she was not going to stop him.

XXX

It was late in the afternoon when Kate came in the kitchen. She had finished the cleaning for the day and was in need of a cup of coffee. Walking up to the espresso machine she removed the portafilter from the machine and emptied out the used coffee beans into the bin beside the bench. She refilled the portafilter with fresh ground coffee beans from the grinder. She made sure to tamp down the coffee carefully before returning it to the machine. Moving across to the cupboard that contained the coffee mugs she selected one and placed it under the portafilter before she switched on the machine. As she waited for the mug to slowly fill up Kate moved across to the kitchen window and peered out.

In the distance she saw Castle. He was sitting at a table he had set up near the edge of the lake. He was bent over the typewriter hurriedly typing away. He had been hard at work for several hours. She had been looking on him from a distance from time to time. At around two o'clock she had tried to entice with some lunch but he had declined though he did accept the cup of coffee she had brought out.

One thing she had immediately noticed about him when she had gone out to see if he wanted some lunch was that he had looked unhappy. His shoulders were slumped. All the other times when she had intruded into the study where he was working there would a ready smile on his face. The telephone call with his publisher must have affected him far more than he was willing to let on.

It had taken Kate a couple of hours to get over the shock of finding out that her favourite author was going to kill off his most successful character. She was curious. Why would he want to kill off Derrick Storm? It was not as if the Storm books were getting boring, at least not to her way of thinking. She always eagerly awaited the release of his latest books. There had been one time when she had lined up at the front of her local book store before midnight to be one of the first to buy his latest Derrick Storm novel.

Kate moved away from the window and returned to the espresso machine. She switched it off and carefully picked up the mug. She might have been in need of a coffee but she had a feeling that Castle out there might need it a little more. Without further thought she walked out of the kitchen and emerged from the back door. As she made her way across the lawn to where Castle was working she noticed that the wind had picked up.

Approaching the desk where Castle was sitting Kate saw that Castle despite the phone call had been pretty productive. There was a small stack of typed pages sitting beside the typewriter. The typed pages were being held in place by Castle's empty coffee mug.

Castle had paused in his work and was reading over the page he had just written. Hearing Kate approaching he turned his head around. Kate offered the writer a smile as she held up the coffee mug that she had brought him.

"Thanks." Castle smiled.

Kate nodded her head in reply. With her free hand she reached down and picked up the empty mug ready to replace it with the filled mug.

It was at that particular moment when a strong gust of wind blew through picking up Castle's typed pages and lifted them up into the air, propelling them in the direction of the lake.

"Shit!" Kate shouted as she watched the pages fluttering away.

Castle looked sharply at Kate surprised at what she had said. He did not dwell on that because Kate moved into action immediately. She slammed the mug she was holding hard on the table spilling some of the coffee and set off after the fleeing pages. Castle jumped to his feet.

"It's most of the last chapter." He said he muttered to himself.

Castle followed Kate as she raced towards the water's edge. She skipped onto the small jetty racing to the end.

"Just leave them!" Castle shouted to her. "They're not important. They're not worth it."

Kate ignored his shouts. Reaching the end of the jetty she looked at the pages that were floating on the surface of the lake. Without thinking she kicked off her shoes and threw off the cardigan she had been wearing. She caught some of what Castle was shouting, something about it being rubbish and to leave them. She ignored his shouting as she pulled off her dress and the singlet. All she wanted to do was recover the pages in the water. She shivered as she stood in a bra and panties and the next moment she dived into the water.

Castle had reached the jetty and stumbled to a halt. His mouth fell open in disbelief as he stared as Kate removed her clothes and in her bra and panties, then a moment later dived into the water. He had always suspected that she had a terrific body but it still came as a surprise to have it revealed to him in such a manner.

"Oh, God, she's in." He muttered, shaken out of his admiring reverie. "And now she'll think me a total tool if I don't go in too."

Castle quickly disrobed down to his boxers. He fell rather than dived in to the water in his haste.

"Fuck, it's cold!" Kate shouted as she reached for a page floating close by.

Castle swam towards her.

"It's so fucking cold!" He muttered.

Kate gathered another soggy page. She looked at the page before she threw a glance at Castle.

"This stuff had better be good."

Castle stopped swimming and stared in astonishment.

"What kind of idiot doesn't make copies?" Kate said through chattering teeth, reaching for another soggy page. "Better still what kind of idiot uses a typewriter when he's got a perfectly good laptop he can use?"

Castle continued to stare at the young woman as she continued to gather up the pages from the water. He had not been hallucinating because of the freezing water, he realised. Katya was speaking English. Perfectly good English.

"Tell me what kind of idiot doesn't make copies?" Kate questioned.

"Um...ah...that would be me."

Kate turned her head to look at Castle and found him standing there with his right hand in the air. She shot him a glare and resumed trying to recover more pages.

"Just stop." Castle ordered. "Stop!"

Kate stopped and slowly turned to look at Castle.

"The pages are really not worth catching pneumonia for."

Kate looked at the pages she was holding in her hand, some had shredded because of the weight of the water. Most of the pages had running ink erasing the words that had been there. She realised that it had been a futile effort trying to recover the pages. She let the pages fall from her hand before she turned to look back at Castle.

"Let's get out of her before we catch our death." Castle suggested.

Kate nodded her head in agreement.

XXX

Kate was sitting on the edge of the couch in the living room. The couch had been turned towards the fireplace. The gas fire had been turned all the way up and the room was starting to really warm up. She was sitting on the couch wrapped in a thick woollen blanket but she still shivered a little. The water in the lake had been much colder than she had ever expected.

As she sat there trying to warm up Kate could not help but wonder what had possessed her to take off her clothes and dive into the water. Okay, it might have been her fault that the wind had sent the pages flying Castle had spent the afternoon writing. Did she really need to go diving in to recover them? Did she really have to give him a good eyeful before she dived into the water? Thinking about her actions now she could only shake her head at her foolishness. She could only imagine what Castle thought of her.

Speaking of Castle. He had not made any kind of comment when they had gotten out of the water, which she had been expecting. He had escorted her into the living room, setting her on the couch and ignored her protests that she was going to soak the fabric of the couch. From somewhere he had produced the blanket and wrapped it around her then started up the gas fire before he disappeared. She had been on her own for about ten minutes now. She wondered where he had gotten to. The answer came a minute later when Castle returned to the living room bearing two cups of coffee.

Kate noticed that he had changed into some dry clothes. He had put on the dark blue shirt which had become her favourite because the colour of the shirt seemed to bring out the colour of his eyes. She quickly shook off those thoughts.

"Here you go, this might warm you up a little." Castle said as he held out one of the mugs towards her.

Kate's hand appeared from within the folds of the blanket and accepted the offered mug. Her other hand was tightly holding the blanket together. Beneath the blanket she was naked, having removed her wet bra and panties when Castle had left the room. They were lying on the floor beside the couch.

"Thank you." Kate said in a low voice.

"You're welcome." Castle replied.

Castle was about to reach for the ottoman so he could sit on it when he changed his mind, sitting on the couch instead but leaving some space between them. He gave her a smile before he raised his mug and took a big sip.

Kate winced inwardly, she must look a bedraggled mess, she thought to herself. Well she had no one but herself to blame for being in this state. Rather than worry about it too much now she turned her attention to the mug she was holding and took a sip of the coffee. Her eyebrows rose up in surprise. Something had been added to her coffee. She took another sip of the coffee trying to figure out what that something extra was.

"I put a shot of whiskey into the coffee." Castle explained, having noticed her expression. "It might warm you up a little quicker."

Kate nodded her thanks as she took another sip of the coffee. He had been right, the shot of whiskey was starting to do the trick. The warmth of the alcohol and the heat of the fire was starting to do the trick.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Katya Dimitrova isn't your real name." Castle ventured, the beginning of a smirk appearing on his lips.

Kate gnawed on her bottom lip and cast her eyes down.

"It's Kate, Kate Beckett." She said in a low voice.

"I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance, Kate, Kate Beckett."

Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head at his little joke.

"Likewise, Mr Castle."

"So, why the disguise?" Castle wondered.

Kate replied with a shrug of her shoulders. She did not notice that her blanket had slipped a little to reveal her neck and a little expanse of a shoulder. Castle noticed and he was about to reach out and help her with the blanket when his eyes widened as a thought occurred to him.

"Are you a secret agent on a mission?" He said with growing excitement in his voice.

Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Okay. You're a secret agent who's lying low after a successful mission, then." He suggested. "That would be so cool, you know?"

Kate started to shake her head but paused and regarded Castle. She saw the animated expression on his face. Kid in a candy shop, she thought to herself. The term seemed so perfectly apt in describing the man sitting beside her. She found that she could not help but smile.

"No, nothing like that."

"You're being chased by some bad guys so you've gone on the lam until the coast is clear?" Castle suggested.

"No."

"Oh, oh. I know, I know..."

"Castle." Kate snapped.

The writer stopped at the sharpness of her tone. He quickly realised that he had been rambling, letting his over active writer's imagination have full rein.

"Sorry." He said contritely and motioned to Kate to speak. "So, why the disguise?"

Kate saw that part of the blanket had slipped a little more to reveal a bare shoulder. She carefully covered herself and tightened her hold on the blanket before she spoke.

"I recently completed a semester in Kiev where I was brushing up on my Russian, and rather than fly straight back home, I decided to do a bit of travelling through Europe, you know, see a few places, earn a bit of money, that sort of thing."

Castle grinned and nodded his his head in understanding.

"I thought it would be fun to play Katya for a little while..." Kate's voice trailed off and she shrugged her shoulders again.

"And messing with my head, didn't hurt either, eh?"

Kate looked over the top of the mug to Castle and saw him grinning back at her. A big warm smile spread across her face as she recalled all the times he tried to communicate with her, mangling what little French he knew with the few words of Russian he had at his command and punctuating all of that with his manic pantomimes.

"That was just a bonus." She said deadpan.

Castle regarded Kate, the amused expression on her face before it was hidden by the coffee mug. He could not hold back the chuckle that escaped from him. Kate smiled as she put her mug down on the small coffee table.

"Can I ask you question, Kate?"

"Ask away."

"What in the world made you jump into the water. The freezing cold water, I might add?"

"Someone had to get the pages back."

"Didn't you hear me say to leave them? That they weren't that important?" Castle ventured.

"I thought they were important." Kate said.

Shrugging her shoulders made the blanket slip again revealing her shoulder, again. Castle's eyes dropped to her shoulder. He could not help but wonder what it would be like to run his hand over her bare shoulder. Realising where his thoughts were going he quickly pulled back and returned to the subject at hand.

"Well, they weren't." He said.

Kate looked at Castle and was a little startled to see the serious look on his face. It was the same kind of look he had when he had been on the phone with his publisher. In that moment her curiosity returned.

"Are you really killing off, Derrick Storm?" She blurted out.

"Yes."

"Why?"

Castle took a moment to put his coffee mug down on the table beside Kate's. It gave him a moment to gather his thoughts. He turned and looked at Kate before he spoke.

"There were no more surprises." He announced. "I know exactly what is going to happen in every moment, in every scene."

Kate rolled her eyes.

"You're the writer. You're supposed to know what is going to happen." She pointed out.

"That's true." He agreed.

"If you don't know what's going to happen, who does?"

"Derrick's become predictable." Castle sighed. "It used to be a wild exciting adventure but he isn't fun any more."

Kate nodded her head slowly. As hard as she tried to disguise it she could not hide the feeling of disappointment she felt on hearing Castle's confirmation that he was killing off her favourite literary character because he had become tired of the character. That writing Derrick Storm had become predictable and not fun any more.

"Do I detect disappointment?" Castle asked, eyeing her carefully.

Kate shrugged her shoulders and turned away.

"I think you're a fan."

"No I'm not." Kate said hurriedly, turning to look at the author.

"Yes, you are. Yes you are." Castle laughed. "You're so a fan."

"I am not!" Kate huffed.

"Oh really?" Castle challenged.

Kate opened her mouth ready to make another retort but the words faded from mind when she gazed into his blue eyes and saw the amusement dancing there. It would be so easy to lose herself in them, she thought to herself. Realising that she was staring she forced herself to look away.

"I...I may have read one or two of your books, Mr Castle." Kate conceded.

"Uh-huh."

Kate looked at Castle sharply.

"Okay." He smiled.

The look on his face told Kate he did not believe her. She braced herself for another onslaught. It did not come. She was relieved to see that he was not going to press the point.

"I think I'd better get dressed." Kate announced slowly rising to her feet. "Where are my clothes?"

Castle also rose from the couch as well. A worried, hesitant look appeared on his face.

"I...ah...I kind of put your clothes in the washer." Castle informed her.

"You did what?"

"Well, they got muddy and wet when we got out of the lake. I...I...thought you'd like them to be clean, you know."

"What the hell am I going to wear now?" Kate demanded. She tightened her hold on the blanket around her as she glared at the author.

Castle's eyes brimmed with delight. "Ah...you could go..."

"Careful what you say." Kate interjected in a warning tone of voice.

"What I was going to say was, that you can go into my bedroom and put on the clothes I've put out for you." Castle said carefully. "An old t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants."

Kate blinked a couple of times as she looked at the author. The pilot light of anger that had been ready to ignite was suddenly extinguished as she continued to look at him. The expression on her face softened and a moment later a smile spread across her face.

"That's sweet. Thank you."

Castle shrugged his shoulders, as if to say it was nothing.

Kate regarded Castle for a couple of moments before she turned and walked to the door.

"Kate, would you like to stay for dinner?" Castle called out.

Kate paused in the doorway and looked back.

"I don't know." She said hesitantly. "It's getting late."

"You tried to save my work from drowning, feeding you is the least I can do."

"Shouldn't you be working on the last chapter of your book?" Kate asked.

"I should." Castle agreed. "But I'd much prefer to make you dinner. It be a lot more fun."

"More fun?"

"Yeah."

"Of course." Kate shook her head.

"So, what do you say Kate, dinner with me, tonight?"

Kate bit on her lower lip as she considered the question. She studied his face and saw the expectant look on it. Perhaps it would be fun to actually have a descent conversation with him rather than desperately trying to suppress the fit of giggles that threatened to erupt as she watched him trying to communicate something through mime.

"Okay, Castle." She announced finally.

"Great." Castle said excitedly.

Kate smiled, amused by his child-like exuberance, before she turned and walked out of the living room.

XXXXX

_**I'd really love to know what you thought of this effort.**_

_**Con **_


	2. Chapter 2

From The Movies

Chapter 2

Butch Castle And Kid Beckett

(Otherwise known as Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid)

_**A/N: This story is based on one of my all time favourite movies. One of the ultimate buddy movies. I hope you enjoy it.**_

Richard Castle was leaning against the long bar of the saloon. A glass of whiskey sat in front of him. He reached for it and took a sip of the murky brown liquid. He tried not to make a sour looking face as the liquor travelled down his throat but he failed. He returned the glass back on the counter.

He cast a quick look about him, taking in the people that were in the place. He felt rather pleased with himself at the way he was able to blend in with everyone in here. He was dressed in a pair of blue denim waist overalls that had been made by the Levi Strauss company in San Francisco. He like everyone else nowadays called these waist overalls, jeans. Along with the jeans he wore a dusty blue denim jacket.

The royal blue shirt he wore under his jacket had seen better days but he liked wearing it all the same. It was one of his favourite shirts. It did not hurt that the shirt brought out the colour of his eyes. That particular point had been made by his partner on more than a few occasions and he was not about to argue with her over this.

Castle was a man who took pride in his appearance whether it was mixing in New York's social circles dressed in a suit purchased at Brooks Brothers or out here in the West in some one horse town amongst miners, ranch hands or farmers dressed like a cowhand. He liked to blend in as much as he liked to stand out. It depended on the situation. Right now for all the world he looked like a cowhand with the dust of a long trail ride still clinging to him.

Yet as he continued to prop himself against the bar he was anything but a cowhand. Castle was an author. A rather successful one at that, even if he did say so himself, and he usually did. He was rather proud of the fact that over the years he had written a string of adventure and mystery novels, all of them set in the Wild West. His most successful books featured the heroic Sheriff Derrick Storm. Sheriff Storm had brought a great deal of fame and fortune and had made him the toast of New York literary circles.

As a result of his successful books there were many people, especially in New York who considered him and expert on the Wild West.

What few people knew was that until a little over five years ago Richard Castle had never ventured west of the Mississippi. Truth be told he had hardly left the New York tri state area. He was knowledgeable about the Wild West, its heroes and villains, thanks to the meticulous research he conducted at the New York Public Library. The information he mined from the books, newspapers and magazines contained in that venerable institution had turned his novels into masterpieces of the adventure and mystery genre. That and his not inconsiderable imagination.

He would have remained in New York City turning out his novels to great acclaim had it not been for a chance meeting with the New York Times editor Horace Greely at a party they had both attended. By the end of the party Castle was fired up with the desire to head out west and see for himself what it was like out there. It would not hurt his writing if there was a little more authenticity to his novels.

And here he was five years later standing in a saloon sipping bad whiskey and taking in the scene.

Castle picked up the glass in front of him and took another sip of whiskey. This time he made no effort to hide the distaste from his face as he swallowed the liquor. This truly had to be the worst whiskey he had the misfortune to have ever tasted, he thought to himself. He could not help but wonder how people here could drink this stuff. He returned the glass to the counter again and shook his head.

Once more he cast a look around the saloon. He had lost count the number of saloons he had frequented in his travels over the last five years. Far too many, he mused to himself with a small smile. Not that he was complaining. It had provided him with enough background information and colour descriptions for over a thousand saloon scenes for his books.

He was no stranger to saloons. In his younger days he had spent a great deal of his time in a saloon not unlike this one back East. Only the one back home did not use sawdust to soak up the spilled drinks and blood. They were a little more refined.

The saloon back East was called the Old Haunt, it was located just around the block from his first apartment and he had practically lived in that place. So much so he had written his first novel there in one of the booths.

Castle hoped one day, in the not too distant future, to return to New York. He would take his partner with him and introduce her to his family and friends. He wanted to show her the sights of the city that he loved. One of the places he would take her would be to the Old Haunt.

Just standing here in this saloon Castle could feel an itch to pull out his pen and note book, and start writing or at least jot down a few ideas or thoughts that had popped into his head. He managed to resist the urge, reminding himself that he had not come in here to do some writing. On top of that he did not have his note book with him. It had been left in his saddle bag and he was not about to go back out and retrieve it. He had come into this saloon to have a drink and observe while passing a little time.

This saloon was called _The Wild Rose_ and it was one of five in town. The town itself was of an average size with a growing population thanks to the rail road that had built a stop here. When he had ridden into town Castle had noticed that a new hotel had been built as well as two more saloons since he had last been here. He had chosen the saloon he was now in because it was the closet to the bank he was going to check out shortly.

This saloon had numerous tables and chairs scattered around the large room in a haphazard pattern in front of a small raised stage. An upright piano sat to one side of the stage. A thin man in a striped shirt was sitting at the piano, he looked no older than twenty if that and was struggling to grow a moustache and sideburns that was the fashion back East. It was an effort to make himself look older than he really was. It was an effort that had failed. He was struggling with the tune he was playing. He was meant to be entertaining the customers but Castle did not think he was accomplishing that simple task.

Every now and then the piano player hit a bum note which he ignored and continued to plow on or he simply did not care. At first it jarred on Castle's nerves, hearing the bum notes with monotonous regularity but he quickly learned to ignore it. No one else in the saloon seemed to mind the bad playing. They probably had become so used to it they no longer cared.

For one moment Castle had considered suggesting to the owner of the saloon he should invest a little money into getting a qualified piano tuner. He discarded the idea quickly when he realised that the nearest qualified piano tuner was probably several hundred miles away and it would cost some money to bring him out here.

At this time of the afternoon the stage was empty of performers except for the piano player. However, come sundown Castle knew that would change. Any half decent saloon worth its name provided their patrons with entertainment. This usually consisted of scantily clad dancing girls singing and highkicking their way from one side of the stage to the other to the raucous applause of the drunken customers.

Castle noticed that at this time of the afternoon the saloon was not all that busy with customers. A handful of people were seated at the tables passing the time with a beer in hand or downing shots of whiskey while exchanging a word or two in between. At another table four men were engrossed in a game of poker, another form of entertainment that could be found in most saloons. The card players had managed to draw a small audience as the stakes slowly rose higher and higher in the pot with each hand.

Usually if Castle found himself in a saloon such as this one with time on his hands, and there was a poker game going he would invite himself into the game. He could not recall the last time he had been refused a seat at a table. His quick wit and ready smile could always ensure him a seat at the table and if that did not work then the wad of money placed on the table certainly did. In those games he usually ended up leaving the table with more money than when he started with. He did not like to boast, well not too often, but he was a pretty good poker player.

Today Castle remained at the bar nursing the glass of whiskey that sat in front of him. He was not interested in the card game going on at that table. He had taken a few moments to study the card players and had smiled to himself. If he had sat in on the game he would have cleaned up without raising a sweat. Those guys were so easy to read. It would have been like taking candy from a baby. He left the men to their poker game and focused his gaze to his whiskey glass.

"Hello handsome."

Castle looked up from his drink to find a woman sidling up beside him. The first thing that struck him was the overpowering aroma of her perfume. It made his head spin. Despite the cloying perfume Castle forced a smile to his face.

The woman wore a tight-fitting red corset and a floor length pink pleated skirt. The corset was cut low to reveal a generous amount of bosom. The outfit was designed to attract men's eyes to the wares that were on offer. Castle forced himself to drag his eyes upwards.

The woman whose blonde hair reached past her shoulders, was aged somewhere in her early thirties Castle guessed. Her brown eyes were lined heavily with mascara and her full lips were thick with bright red lipstick. He thought her pretty but it was hard to be sure under the thick layer of makeup. He recognised her for what she was, one of the saloon's working girls. This was another form of entertainment that this establishment, and other saloons like it provided to its customers.

"Howdy, ma'am." Castle said smoothly, tugging on the brim of his hat.

"Looks like you could use some company, handsome." The woman said as she moved closer to Castle.

"I'm fine, thank you, ma'am." Castle replied, politely.

"A bit shy are we, handsome?" The woman chuckled.

"I wouldn't say..."

"I know just the thing to help you overcome your shyness." The woman smiled.

"Do you now?" Castle replied, returning the woman's smile.

"Oh yes."

"And what might that be?" Castle gave her a questioning look.

"A little afternoon delight, handsome."

Castle let out a small laugh. The woman took his laughter as a signal to move right up to Castle, practically shoving her bosom under his nose.

"Well, ma'am..."

"Call me Kitty." The woman said.

Castle almost rolled his eyes at the mention of her name. Was every other whore in the West named 'Kitty' he thought to himself?

"Well, Miss Kitty I'd imagine it be a right pleasant experience to spend a little while with you." Castle said carefully, the smile fixed on his face. "But my lady would take exception, if you know what I mean. A right hellcat she can be, an all."

"What your lady don't know, wont hurt her, handsome." Kitty purred.

She placed her hand on Castle's arm and gave it a gentle squeeze, trying to entice him to change his mind. Castle glanced down at her hand. The smile remained fixed on his lips but if she had looked at him closer she would have seen the smile had not reached his eyes.

"But I'll be mighty hurt when she finds out, and she will." Castle tried to sound disappointed.

Kitty regarded Castle for a couple of moments. She slowly removed her hand from his arm. She took the rejection with a shrug of her shoulders. A smile came to her very heavily painted red lips.

"Your loss, handsome." She said.

She patted Castle's arm and slowly glided away in search of another potential customer. Castle tugged the brim of his hat as she moved off. He almost let out a sigh of relief when the woman had gone. He turned his attention back to his drink and took a hurried sip.

It had become the bane of his life that in almost every saloon or hotel that he ventured into by himself the working girls would flock to him like bees to honey. He could understand how they could be attracted to him because of his ruggedly handsome face and charming demeanour but truth be told he was not interested in partaking in such pleasures. He had not been lying when he had told Miss Kitty that his lady would not be happy.

Castle took out his pocket watch and checked the time. It was nearly three o'clock. He closed the watch and returned it to his pocket. Then he picked up his glass and drained the remaining whiskey by tilting his head back and throwing it down his throat. He made a face as the fire water burned its way down his throat. True rot gut he mused to himself as he set the empty glass on the bar. He longed for the good quality stuff that he used to drink back in New York but it was next to impossible to get imported Scotch in this part of the world.

The bar tender who had been hovering close by picked up a bottle of whiskey and moved towards Castle. Castle shook his head at the man. Three shots of bad whiskey was more than enough for him in one day. He dug his hand into the pocket of his jacket and set a silver dollar beside the empty glass. It was more than the cost of the three drinks he had consumed but he did not care for change. He gave the barman and nod of his head in thanks then slowly turned away from the bar and made his way for the door. As he was leaving he caught sight of Kitty. She had found a willing partner. It was one of the card players, the one who was winning the most money.

Castle emerged from the saloon. Tugging his hat a little lower to shade his eyes from the harsh afternoon sun he started walking along the wooden pavement. He smiled at the passing pedestrians. Mainly prim and proper looking ladies, who twittered and giggled as he charmed them with his bright smile and the twinkle in his eyes.

He passed a general store that seemed to be doing good business if the number of people in there was anything to go by. This store had not been here that last time he had been in town. This new store made it three general stores. Things were looking up for this town now that the rail road had come and the mines up in the nearby hills were starting to produce silver in large quantities.

Next to the general store was a dressmakers shop and next to that was an Italian restaurant. The restaurant was closed now but Castle paused at the front window reading the menu that was chalked on the blackboard that hung in the window. A feed of Italian food sounded good, he thought to himself. It had been a couple of months at least since he had feasted on such cuisine. A smile came to his face as he resumed walking, he knew someone else who had a love of Italian food as much as he did. If they had time they might come and pay the restaurant a visit, he thought to himself.

As he continued walking he cast a look to the other side of the street and saw a familiar building, the town jail. A smile came to his face as he gazed at the building. A year back he had been a resident of the town jail for allegedly stealing a horse. The old sheriff at the time would not buy his story that he had not stolen the horse, merely borrowed it. It had not helped Castle's cause that the horse belonged to the sheriff. Also, it did not help that he had been drunk and naked as he rode up and down the street. For his pains, he had spent a couple of days in one of the cells, not to mention face the wrath of his lady.

Thankfully the old sheriff had retired not long after that particularly unfortunate incident and there was a new one now, one who did not know Castle personally. He still had to put up with his lady occasionally bringing up the unfortunate incident for her amusement.

Castle came to the corner. He stopped and stared across to the other side of the street. His smile deepened as he gazed at the single story brick building. The sign on the roof proclaimed it _The State Bank Of Wyoming_. The last time he had been in this town the bank had been a weatherboard building. Things must be real prosperous in this town if they could afford to build a bank made of brick, Castle thought to himself.

Castle stepped off the sidewalk and started across the unpaved street. He paused to let a wagon laden with lumber and pulled by a team of oxen pass and resumed walking to the bank. Reaching the front door he stopped to let a matronly woman leave. He gave her a smile and a tug of the brim of his hat, the woman acknowledged the gesture with a curt nod of her head before she bustled away her transaction at the bank completed.

Stepping into the bank Castle found the interior cooler than it was outside. As he walked into the middle of the bank, he noticed the guard sitting on a chair close to the door. A rifle rested against the wall beside him. The man had a bored expression on his face which changed when he glanced at his pocket watch. Another guard stood on the other side of the bank near the counter. Castle turned his attention to the counter and found there were three stations where the tellers worked. An iron grill ran the length of the counter leaving a small space where the people could transact their business with the tellers. To the side of the tellers' counter was another iron grill with a small door and beyond it was where a very large safe was located. A business suited man with slicked down hair was placing trays of money onto the shelves inside the safe.

At the stroke of three the sedate activity in the bank changed. The guards came to life shaking off their stupor and started moving toward the windows shutting them and locking the iron grills. The bank was cast into shadows. The tellers at the counter placed closed signs in the space between the counter and grill then picked up their trays and took them to the safe. The few people remaining in the bank now made their way to the front door where the first guard gave them nods of good-bye. The business suited man, either the manager or the assistant manager satisfied that all the money was now safely ensconced in the safe, closed the door of the safe and turned the tumblers, locking it.

Castle made a final sweep of the bank trying to memorise everything then slowly started to make his way to the front door, where the guard was holding the door open. Castle stood in the doorway and cast a look back into the now darkened bank. He turned and looked at the guard.

"What happened to the old bank?" He asked. "It was beautiful."

"People kept robbing it." The guard said and shrugged.

Castle frowned in disappointment. He shook his head.

"Small price to pay for beauty." He sighed and walked out.

XXX

At the southern end of the town located just on the outskirts beside the road that led out of town was another saloon. On the wooden swinging doors in fading paint was the name of the saloon, Cantina El Toro. The windows were grimy with accumulated dirt and dust, and had not been washed in a few years at least. One of them had thick cardboard taped to it covering a large hole where someone had thrown a patron through it during a saloon fight. A simple glance told anyone who looked that it was a place that had seen better days.

Kate Beckett was sitting in this small run down saloon. There was a trestle table that served as the bar which ran the length of one wall. A forlorn looking man with a droopy moustache was behind the bar. He had the appearance of a man whose hopes and dreams had been crushed and they had come to this saloon to die a slow death. On the wall behind the barman were a series of wooden planks that served as shelves. A handful of unlabelled whiskey bottles stood on the top shelf gathering dust. The shelf below it had a row of whiskey and beer bottles. There were half a dozen table of various sizes, cast offs that had found a home in here and they were all empty of customers except for the one Beckett was sitting at.

Beckett was seated at the table facing the only entrance into the saloon. A chipped whitewashed wall pock marked with bullet holes was behind her. She never liked sitting at a table with her back to the door. That was one sure fire way to ensure a short life. And Kate Beckett, better known as Kid Beckett, planned to live a long life if she could help it. To her right was the bar and from time to time she would cast a look in the direction of the barman from out of the corner of her eye.

Sitting directly across from her was a man who was aged in his mid thirties. He was dressed in a pale brown shirt with a matching serge vest. He had a nose that seemed a little skewed off centre and it spoke of having been in more than few fights over the years and having lost most of those fights. Below his broken nose was a moustache that haphazardly covered his upper lip. He had the look of a trail boss, certainly he gave off the aroma of having been around cattle for most of his life. It was something that Beckett was familiar with.

To Beckett's left was another man, older than the first and dressed like a cowhand. His weather beaten face told a story of having spent most of his life on the trail, driving cattle from one town to another and from one rail head to another. He had an open friendly face under the fuzz of a three week growth that he sported.

Beckett had come to this saloon for the simple reason that it was located on the edge of town. It was as good a place as any to while away a couple of hours until her partner had returned from what he had to do. She was dressed in a pair of black denim trousers and a matching cotton shirt. The vest that she wore under over the shirt was made of leather and was black. The wide brimmed Stetson she had on was also black in colour and she had it pulled low almost covering her eyes.

Beckett had a reputation of being one of the most fearsome gunslingers in the West. It was also said that she was the fastest draw in the West. Also being a woman added to the reputation. Some people said that if you blinked you would miss seeing her draw her gun. Beckett did not know about being the fastest draw in the West or being a fearsome gunslinger. The story about being the fastest draw had more to do with the exaggerated story some journalist had written a few years back. It had managed to capture the imagination of people everywhere. It was a reputation she had never sought nor wanted, and these days she tried to play it down every chance she got.

The reputation, wanted or not, had brought with it countless wannabes who challenged her for the title. There had been a time she would oblige them, leaving those challengers laying on the ground bleeding from non-life threatening wounds. If she had a mind she might have filled town cemeteries the length and breadth west of the Mississippi and all the way to California. Yet Beckett was not like that. She did not like killing.

She did not like killing because she knew what the aftermath brought even if those who foolishly challenged her did not. Those challengers never thought of their loved ones who would be left behind if they got killed trying to prove they were faster than her. She did. She knew all about the heart ache and misery loved ones felt when they lost someone close to them. She did not want that kind of misery visited on others, especially at her hand.

The two men sitting at the table with her had no idea who she really was and for that she was silently grateful. The three of them had been playing poker for the past couple of hours. When Beckett had entered the saloon she had spotted the two men playing a reasonably game for money. It got her interest piqued. Playing poker was a more lucrative way to pass the time rather than reading a month old newspaper or magazine and drinking, Beckett had thought to herself.

The two men at first, had reservations about allowing a woman to join their game. Their reservations vanished the moment she had placed her coin purse on the table. The two men could not have been more welcoming after that. It had not escaped her notice the looks they had exchanged between themselves. It amused her to think they were thinking that they were going to fleece her of her money.

Beckett's face was a mask of stone as her money had dwindled during the first hour of the game. It remained the same in the second hour as she won back her money and proceeded to increase it. The two men had tried to engage her in conversation as they played but Beckett was not exactly the most talkative type when she played poker with strangers. All she had provided was monosyllabic answers to their questions.

"Full house." The first man announced with a grin as he turned over his hand. "Tens over sevens."

The cowhand, who had folded a little earlier to watch the hand play out let out a low whistle of surprise.

Beckett looked down at the cards. A full house was a pretty good hand. She could feel three sets of eyes on her waiting for her reaction. Slowly she lifted her gaze to the first man. He wore a smug, triumphant expression on his face. It was a look she had seen on the faces on many men countless times. A ghost of a smile flickered across her lips as she slowly picked up her cards off the table.

"Four kings." She announced simply.

The man's smile had been growing the more he thought about the large pot of money his full house had won. He was also smiling because he had thought he had beaten her. The smile faltered when Beckett announced her hand. It vanished the moment she turned the cards over and dropped them on the table. His eyes fell to the cards and stared. Four of a kind.

The man continued to stare at the cards not quite believing he had lost. Four of a kind. Suddenly he let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair. He shook his head in disbelief.

After a minute of silence had passed Beckett reached out and pulled the large pot of money she had just won towards her.

"What's the secret of your success?" The second man asked, curiously.

"Prayer." Beckett quipped as she started to sort the coins.

"You're a helluva card player, lady." The trail boss said in a menacing tone. "I should know because I'm a helluva card player."

Beckett nodded her head. He was not as good as he thought but she was not going to tell him that. She did not see the sense in rubbing salt into the wound.

"And I can't even spot how you're cheating." He added.

Beckett stilled. She had been stacking the coins into nice even piles. Her hazel green eyes slowly rose from the coins on the table up to her accuser. She regarded the man carefully as her face closed down. She prided herself in her poker skills and if there was one thing she did not abide it was being called a card cheat. She had never cheated in her life and was not about to start now. She regarded the man coolly.

It was during this exchange when Castle entered the saloon. He had heard the first man accuse Beckett of cheating and he saw the look on her face. Quickly he made his way to the table turning on a bright smile.

"We seem to be short of brotherly and sisterly love here." Castle remarked, as he came to stand beside Beckett.

"If you're with her, you'd better get yourselves out of here." The first man warned.

"We're on our way." Castle told the man. He put his hand on Beckett's shoulder. "Come on."

Beckett shrugged off Castle's hand. "I wasn't cheating." She said in a quiet but clear voice.

"Come on." Castle urged.

"I wasn't cheating." Kate repeated, a little louder.

The second card player slowly pushed back in his chair and rose to his feet, sensing what was about to unfold. He did not want to get in the crossfire that he knew was coming. He rapidly took refuge behind the bar alongside the barman.

The first man pushed back his chair and got to his feet. He stepped away from the table. His right hand hung close to his holstered gun, fingers twitched and flexed, eager to pull it out. His eyes had not left Kate. Kate's hazel green orbs had never wavered as she held the man's gaze.

" You can die." The man said, glancing at Castle. "For that matter, you can both die."

Castle looked from the gunman to Beckett.

"Did you hear that?" He said, trying not to look worried.

"If he invites us to stay, then we'll go." Beckett said from out of the side of her mouth. "He's got to invite us to stick around."

Castle's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"He'll draw on you." Castle looked over to the trail boss and studied him for a moment before turning his attention to Kate. "He's ready. You don't know how fast he is. I'm over the hill, but it can happen to you."

"That's just what I want to hear." Kate scoffed.

"Everyday you get older. Now that's a law." Castle said.

The gunman cocked his pistol but left it in the holster. Castle looked at the man. Quickly he moved over to him.

"What do you think about maybe asking us to stick around?" He suggested.

"What?" The trail boss looked confused.

"You don't have to mean it or anything." Castle said quickly.

The trail boss shook his head and he shoved Castle aside. Castle stumbled back and turned to look at Beckett and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I can't help you Beckett."

On hearing the name a horrified look crossed the man's face as the colour drained from it. He stared at the woman sitting at the table.

"I...I...didn't know y...you were Kid Beckett...when I said y...y...you were cheating..." The trail boss stammered in a now quaking voice. He moved his hand away from his pistol. "If I draw on you, you'll kill me."

Kate smiled up at the gunman, a cold, humourless smile that did not reach her eyes. "That's a possibility." She said simply.

Castle took a step towards the now very frightened man.

"No, you'd be killing yourself." He said. He gave the man a smile. "Why don't you just invite us to stick around? You can do it. It's easy." He urged.

The trail boss looked at Castle considering what he had said. He nodded his head rapidly. He then looked at Beckett.

"Yeah...w...w...why don't you stick around?" He said hopefully.

Castle moved to the table and removed his hat and with his free hand swept all the coins Beckett had won into the hat.

"Nah, we got to get going." Castle announced.

Kate slowly got to her feet and followed Castle. Her high heeled boots echoed in the now silent saloon. As she passed the thoroughly frightened man, she eyed him carefully as if she was sizing him up. When she had neared the door the man called out to her.

"Hey Beckett! How good are you really?"

Kate did not falter in her walk but she suddenly wheeled around while at the same time drawing her pistol. Suddenly the tense silence of the saloon was shattered by a volley of bullets. She hit the man's gun belt detaching it from his waist and with remaining bullets sent the man's pistol skittering across the floor.

"Like I've been telling you." Castle remarked with a smirk. "Over the hill."

Beckett rolled her eyes at her partner as he walked out of the saloon.

Beckett calmly holstered her pistol. She cast a look in the direction of the bar and saw the barman and the old cowhand peer over the top of the counter looking both fearful and surprised. She turned her gaze on the trail boss and saw the man was looking a ghostly pale. She gave him a nod of her head then turned and strode out of the saloon, leaving the trail boss standing there quivering with fright and thanking his lucky stars that none of the bullets had hit him. When the full enormity of what just happened hit him his legs turned to rubber and gave way. He hit the floor in a dead faint.

Castle was already saddled up when Beckett emerged from the saloon. He was holding the reins of her horse and tossed them to her. In one swift, smooth action Beckett climbed into the saddle. Once she had control of her horse she cast a look over to Castle.

"So I'm over the hill, huh?"

"No, no, no." Castle replied hurriedly.

"Uh-huh." She murmured.

Castle knew that it would do not do him any good if he tried to explain that he did not mean what he said. All he knew was that he had better come up with a suitable and abject apology that would mollify his partner before the sun went down or he would be sleeping alone tonight and for the next few days.

"You feel like some Italian food, Beckett?" Castle inquired, changing the subject.

"You know of a place?" Kate asked.

"Yeah just around the corner." Castle motioned with his hand in the direction where he had seen the restaurant.

Kate thought over the idea about stopping for Italian food. After a moment she reached a decision. She shook her head slowly.

"No, best we head for home." She announced. "We've been away a while, the boys will probably be missing us."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He agreed.

"You don't want Slaughter trying to take over the gang again?"

Before Castle had a chance to reply, Kate kicked her horse into a gentle gallop and headed out of town. Castle watched her heading away for some moments before he kicked his horse into a gallop and quickly raced to catch up with her.

XXX

"You want another helping?" Castle inquired. He was hovering over the fire, stirring the pot.

Kate smiled but shook her head. She patted her stomach to indicate she was full. That gesture earned her a smile from Castle. She had three heaped helpings all ready and there was no more room for any more.

"I'll save the rest for breakfast, then." Castle announced. He removed the pot from the centre of the camp fire and placed a lid on it before putting aside.

Kate watched her partner for a moment as he cleaned up. She brought the cup to her lips and took a long pull of the now lukewarm coffee.

"Do you want a refill?" Castle asked, his hand reaching for the coffee pot.

"Nah." Kate shook her head. "I want to get some sleep tonight."

"Is that a fact?"

"It is." Kate said firmly. "We have an early start in the morning. You said you wanted to get to the Hole In The Wall before nightfall tomorrow, remember?"

Kate was amused at the way Castle's face fell when she told him she wanted to get some sleep. She knew what he had in mind for after diner entertainment. Normally she would not had been adverse to that kind of entertainment. There had been many a night they had spent under the stars by the light of a camp fire entertaining themselves. But not tonight. Tonight she was feeling a little tired and they had a long ride ahead of them in the morning.

A few minutes later Kate had finished her coffee. She placed the cup where the plates had been left. She removed her boots then pulled up the blanket of her bedroll and slid into bed. Settling down she turned on her side and faced towards the fire. There was a chill in the night air and she tightened the blanket around her.

Castle returned from his quick foraging trip carrying some pieces of wood he had collected. He placed the pieces of wood onto the fire and flames eagerly embraced the fresh fuel flaring up and casting out more warmth to keep at bay the night chill.

With that task completed he slowly came over and joined her. He got into his bedroll and snuggled up against her back. His hands snaked over and pulled Kate closer to him. Kate looked over her shoulder and gave him a questioning raised eyebrow. Castle paused.

"I promise no funny business, Kate." Castle said in a low voice.

Kate nodded her head and then turned and settled back down. Castle pulled her even closer and she felt her back mould against his chest and stomach. His hand came to rest across her stomach. She could not help the small smile that came to her lips as her own hand came to rest on top of his. With the fire on one side and Castle on the other side of her she was going to be nice and toasty throughout the night.

"You haven't told me about what happened at the bank." Kate said, breaking the silence that had descended between them.

Castle let out a sigh. Kate closed her eyes and revelled in the warmth of his breath as it caressed her her neck. He might have promised no funny business but she was not sure if she could promise that.

"I think we'll have to scrub the idea of robbing that bank, Kate."

"Why's that?" She asked. "I thought you said it would be a simple job?"

"I thought it would be." Castle sighed.

"What happened?"

Kate had not been keen on hitting the bank but the rest of the gang were getting restless. It had been some time since they had robbed a bank or stage coach, or a train even. The boys were in need of some action soon, and to replenish their purses. Even Castle had shown boyish glee at the prospect of raiding a bank. Kate, however was not about to go riding into town with all guns blazing without knowing the layout of the target bank. It was not like it was in the old days.

She had agreed on the bank raid on the proviso that they scope the place out. Castle had volunteered for the job, claiming he was perfect for the task. Kate could not argue with that. The man did have an eye for detail that was unsurpassed by anyone else she knew. She had gone with him to make sure Castle did not get into trouble. It had not escaped her notice that the bank was in the town where he had been arrested the year before.

They had left the boys back at the Hole In The Wall while she and Castle rode into the town. After casing the bank Castle would report back to the gang about whether they would hit it or not.

"The old bank's gone." Castle informed her.

"What do you mean gone? Do you mean the town doesn't have a bank?"

"No. They have a totally new bank now. It's made of solid brick and there's armed guards all over keeping an eagle eye on everything and everyone. And there's iron bars everywhere." Castle said unhappily. "You'd need a whole army to hit the joint."

Kate now understood why Castle had been unusually quiet as they had ridden out of town and during the meal.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"I swear they're just making it very hard for honest bank robbers to make a living these days." Castle grumbled.

"Honest bank robbers?" Kate said with some amusement.

"You know what I mean."

"I'm sure you'll think of something, Castle."

"Yeah?"

"You always do."

"I do, don't I?" He agreed.

As Kate made herself more comfortable she realised that Castle would silently brood over the matter for most of the night. A thought came to her. In the process of getting more comfortable she pressed her backside against his groin.

"Kate."

"Mmm?"

"I promised no funny business."

Kate smiled. It was one of the many things that she loved about him. He kept his promises. She craned her neck so that she could look back at him.

"I know but I made no promise about no funny business." Kate chuckled.

"Evil temptress." Castle muttered as he settled down.

Kate settled back down and closed her eyes. "Night, Rick."

"Until tomorrow, Kate, sweet dreams."

XXXXX

_**As usual your thoughts and opinions on this latest effort would be greatly appreciated.**_

_**Con **_


	3. Chapter 3

From The Movies

Chapter 3

Comrades In Arms

(MASH TV show)

Part 1

_**This story is not from a movie but based on an episode from one of my all time favourite TV shows M*A*S*H. It actually was a double episode from series six. It is one of my favourite episodes. Seeing it's such a large story, around 18,000 words—I started writing and just kept on writing—that I have chosen to split the story into two parts. Part Two of the story will be posted in a couple of days. I hope you enjoy it. **_

Colonel Roy Montgomery was seated at his desk in his office. He was half way through the paperwork that running a mobile army surgical hospital generated on a daily basis. There were patient files to review, patient discharges to sign off on, requisition forms to give the once over, leave requests to approve or deny, daily reports to sign, plus a whole myriad of other things that required the commanding officer's attention.

The Parker fountain pen in Montgomery's hand made a scratching sound as it travelled across the page as he signed his name at the bottom of the page. He closed the file and placed it in the out-tray and immediately picked another file from in in-tray, opened it and quickly went through it.

Montgomery liked to take care of the daily paperwork in the late afternoons or early evenings after chow time and before he hit the sack, and if he had the time he would write a letter to his wife Evelyn, waiting for him back home. He tried to write to his wife almost every day. The only time he was not able to take care of the daily paperwork was when the hospital was flooded with casualties and he was in the O.R. up to his elbows in blood, guts ans sutures.

Finishing the file, Montgomery signed it and placed it with the growing pile sitting in the out-tray. He paused a moment before reaching for the next file. It had been a quiet few days in this sector which meant very few casualties coming through. For that Montgomery was very grateful. Yet he had been in the army long enough to know that the quiet did not last for too long. He had not forgotten that this time last week he and the other surgeons were half way through a thirty hour stretch in the O.R. trying to patch up a platoon of infantry that had taken a battering from the enemy as they had tried to recapture a hill that had been lost the week before.

Montgomery started to reach for the next file when he was startled by the telephone that started ringing. He swivelled round and reached for the telephone that sat in the canvas travelling pouch on the shelf behind him.

"MASH 4077, Colonel Montgomery speaking." Montgomery announced. "Oh hey Lou, how's it going?"

Lou was Colonel Lou Karnacki, the commanding officer of the 8063rd Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Montgomery and Karnacki were old comrades in arms, both long time army doctors having worked together off and on for more years than either one cared to mention.

"What can I do you for, Lou?" Montgomery inquired after the pleasantries had been exchanged. "The arterial transplants, what about them?" Montgomery started to frown. "Well, didn't you or your people bother to read the paper my people wrote on the subject?...I see."

Montgomery frowned even more as he listened to his friend.

"I see. Uh-huh...not much time for reading...uh-huh...Okay, Lou. I can send a couple of my people over to you tomorrow morning, how's that sound? Okay...fine. Talk to you later Lou."

Montgomery returned the telephone handset back in its cradle and frowned even more than before. Slowly he rose from his chair, the half finished paperwork forgotten. He did not like having to send his people through the wilds of Korea at the best of times but this new procedure that his people had come up with had been a great success, and many lives had been saved. If more lives could be saved by teaching the procedure to other doctors, who was he to stand in the way? As he left the office he wondered how he was going to break it to the volunteer he had in mind for this trip.

XXX

Captain Rick Castle sauntered across the compound towards the showers. He was dressed in his favourite red bathrobe with a towel lazily draped over his left shoulder. He had spent the morning and the afternoon on duty in Post Op and was in need of a shower. He had only a small window of opportunity to get himself a shower before the showers were turned over to the nurses.

The nurse's showers were under repair and everyone was forced to share until the nurses showers were operational again. Castle had offered to share his shower time with the nurses many times, even going so far as to volunteer to scrub their backs. Colonel Montgomery had politely declined his otherwise kind offer. The nurses too had turned him down flat.

As Castle approached the showers he was humming to himself, some opera tune that had lodged in his head. He noticed a trio of nurses had already taken up station outside the shower tent waiting for their turn. One of the waiting nurses was Lieutenant Lanie Parish and she did not look too pleased.

"Evening ladies." Castle said cheerfully. "You're more than welcome to join me, you know."

"Just hurry and have your shower, Scalpel Boy." Lieutenant Lanie Parish snapped back.

"That's Doctor Scalpel Boy to you, Lieutenant." Castle reminded her, smirking.

"Keep it up smart boy and you'll miss your turn for the showers." Lieutenant Parish retorted.

"And we certainly can't have that, now." Castle said as he pulled open the door to the shower tent.

Entering the showers Castle resumed his humming. He found that one of the shower cubicles was already occupied by the latest resident of The Swamp, Major Carter Burke.

"La donna e mobile...oh what I ate today." Castle sang as he removed his robe and stepped into the free cubicles.

"Pasta fazul and army gruel."

Major Burke paused in his showering and turned to level an imperious eye on Castle.

"Do you realise that you are singing two entirely different operas, and they're both out of tune?"

"Hey don't blame me. I didn't write this stuff." Castle replied with a grin. He pulled on the shower chain and doused himself with the spray of water, resuming his humming.

Major Burke let out a low sigh and resumed showering. Castle grinned back at him. Major Burke was still trying to adjust to life in a MASH unit. His face still sported that dismayed expression at the sudden culture shock he had experienced upon arrival at the 4077th.

Originally from Los Angeles Burke had graduated from the Harvard Medical school and had a reputation of being a top notch thoracic surgeon. He was more snobbish than a Boston Brahman. He had been drafted into the army but through his connections and contacts had managed to get himself a commission in the army as a Major and a cushy job at Tokyo General where he thought he would spend the remainder of the war. It came as a rude shock when he found himself suddenly transferred to a frontline MASH unit, the 4077th to be exact.

Castle had heard scuttlebutt that Burke had been sent to the 4077th as Major Will Sorenson's replacement because of a gambling debt. The general who owed Burke the money thought it would be better settle the debt by sending the surgeon to Korea. What ever the reason Burke was here Castle was happy to have a new foil to poke fun at.

Colonel Montgomery opened the door and entered the shower tent. He came to a stop in front of the shower stalls.

"As you were." Montgomery said.

"I'm always as I were." Castle quipped. "But thanks."

"I need a volunteer for a business trip." Montgomery announced, looking at his two surgeons.

"I haven't volunteered since my draft board tied me up in a gunny sack and sent me over here." Castle pointed out.

"The 8063rd is all agog over out arterial transplant technique." Montgomery announced.

"And gog they should." Major Burke said. "We are fantastic."

"You know, what you need is a humility transplant." Montgomery remarked eyeing the major carefully.

"Unfortunately you'll never be a donor." Castle added.

"How unkind." Burke sniffed.

"They heard we know how to save a leg when the artery's destroyed and the CO up there begged me to send him my best surgeon, to demonstrate the technique." Montgomery informed the two men standing in the shower stalls.

Castle had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was ready to open his mouth to say something but his shower stall companion spoke up first.

"Oh, now really, Colonel." Burke drawled in his deep bass voice. "I'm far too busy to go traipsing over to every MASH unit that's too lazy to read a paper on the subject."

"You just powder your buns, Major." Montgomery said, pointing a finger at the Major. "I'm sending Castle."

The smug grin had faded from Castle's face. He looked at the Colonel.

"I thought you said 'volunteers'?" He said.

"I was breaking it to you gently." Montgomery smiled.

Castle shot Colonel Montgomery a humourless smile. He reached for the towel he had draped over the side of the shower stall and started to dry himself as he emerged from the stall.

"Why me?"

"Yes, indeed, why him?" Major Burke demanded, trying not to look irritated that the Colonel did not consider him the best surgeon in the unit.

"Because Castle has done dozens of them." Montgomery replied. "That's why."

Castle looked over to Major Burke and poked his tongue at him. He could not resist it. The Colonel's back was turned giving him the perfect opportunity.

"Will you hurry up in there!" Shouted Major Kate Beckett, the 4077th's Head Nurse. "Your time was up five minutes ago!"

Colonel Montgomery glanced in the direction of the door and heard the growing clamour of the gathered nurses beyond the door. He turned his gaze to Castle who had finished drying off and had donned his bathrobe.

"You leave in the morning at 0800, so pack up your old kit bag and, uh, give us a little smile." Montgomery ordered.

"I'm not so sure I love this." Castle remarked sourly.

"And pick a nurse to go with you." Montgomery added.

"I'm not sure I hate it either." Castle brightened.

He might not have liked the thought of traipsing through Korea to demonstrate a new surgical technique to colleagues in other units but getting to pick his own nurse to accompany him on the journey was not all that bad, Castle thought to himself.

Montgomery and Castle reached the door and opened it.

"Will you hurry up in there...!" Major Beckett shouted again.

The waiting nurses surged for the door when it was opened almost swamping Montgomery and Castle.

"Ladies, ladies." Montgomery shouted, getting their attention. "Before you go in there and scrape your current layer of Korea we have a request for one doctor and one nurse to demonstrate arterial transplants at the 8063rd." Montgomery announced. "Captain Castle will be the doctor, and one of you lucky folks will be the nurse."

"I need someone who can explain this procedure fast and simple." Castle said stepping forward and cast a look over the waiting nurses. "Someone with good hands, who doesn't have a tendency to giggle in the dark."

"If you remember Captain, I assisted when Dr Borelli taught you that operation." Major Beckett said.

"Yes, and you were wonderful Major."

Castle grinned at her before he turned his attention to the nurse standing closest to him which happened to be Lieutenant Parish.

"Could I look at your hands?" He asked her. Lieutenant Parish fixed him with a dirty look and made no move to show him her hands.

"You're not going to look at her hands." Major Beckett interjected. "Or any other part of her."

Castle turned his gaze on the Major.

"I'm going with you." Beckett announced.

"Well, I think a doctor should choose his nurse." He replied.

"I'm going with him." Major Beckett insisted as she looked at the Colonel.

Colonel Montgomery saw the determined look in Major Beckett's eyes and he knew from past experience that when the Major looked that way there was nothing on this God's Earth that was going to dissuade her.

"She's in charge of the nurses." Montgomery reminded Castle.

"Let's put it on a volunteer basis." Castle suggested.

"Why don't I go with this volunteer here?" Beckett said, still looking at the Colonel though her hand was waving at Castle. "Because this is a nursing staff, not a harem."

"Beckett, may I tell you something in short easy to understand words?" Castle started.

"Tell her tomorrow at 0800." Montgomery announced, reaching a decision. "Now hit the sack."

"Now I'm sorry I didn't use all the hot water." Castle grumbled as he marched off to the Swamp.

XXX

The only time Captain Castle wanted to be woken up at 6am in the morning was when casualties were coming in. On those occasions he did not need someone waking him up. The usual commotion that surrounded the arrival of incoming wounded, the rapid thumping of helicopters bearing wounded as they landed on the helipad, the screeching of ambulances full of wounded and accompanying shouting of hospital personnel issuing orders, was a better wake up call than any alarm clock ever could be.

On this morning however there were no incoming wounded and Castle would have happily slept through the early morning hours had it not been for Corporal Javier Esposito's less than subtle wake up technique. A rough shaking. Before Castle had a chance to threaten the company clerk with busting him down to private and placing him in charge of the latrines permanently, the Hispanic soldier reminded Castle of his trip to the 8063rd.

With a lot of grumbling Castle had hauled himself out of his army cot and gotten himself dressed for the trip. He then visited the mess tent for breakfast, or what constituted as breakfast in the cook's mind. The hard tack and gruel was helped down with a several cups of brown sludge that masqueraded as coffee.

After breakfast Castle had gone over to the supply hut and oversaw the selection of the medical supplies they would be taking over to the other MASH unit. He left the loading of the Jeep to Corporal Esposito and went back to The Swamp where he gathered his personal things and the medical bag he took with him whenever he travelled through the roads of Korea, and his helmet.

Approaching the waiting Jeep he was amused to find Major Beckett already seated in the front passenger seat and waiting for him. She was dressed in a combat jacket and helmet and she had her own medical kit cradled in her lap.

"Hurry up." She barked. "We'll be late."

"Yes, dear." Castle replied.

Major Beckett shot him an angry glare but said nothing.

Corporal Esposito walked up to Castle carrying a large open box filled with several large cans and more boxes.

"Put them in there, Sabu." Castle quipped, pointing to a spot in the back of the Jeep.

"If it please you Effendi." Esposito replied.

"Why should I be offended?" Castle shot back.

Castle got behind the wheel of the Jeep.

"Is that how you're going to be dressed?" Major Beckett asked.

Castle looked down to what Beckett was pointing and saw the black and white Hawaiian shirt he was wearing under his combat jacket. He looked at Beckett.

"I try to look my best." He told her. "You know how jealous those other doctors can be."

Beckett rolled her eyes and shook her head at his response. Before she looked away from him Castle thought he detected a ghost of a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. That was all the encouragement he needed. He resolved that he was going to get a laugh out of her or a full on smile at least before this trip was over if it was the last thing he did.

"There's a box of Sulfa and six cans of fancy cling peaches, in that box, sir." Esposito reported as he came to stand beside the Jeep. "They aren't your puny peaches either. These are giant half peaches, big as your fist, sir."

"I thought we'd stop at a Howard Johnson's." Castle replied. "I hate to eat in the car."

"They're not for your, sir." Esposito said. "I want you to do a little trading. See if they've got some penicillin."

"Okay." Castle nodded.

Shortages of vital medical supplies were the constant bane for frontline medical units and the 4077th was no exception. Almost every other day they were forced to do some horse trading to get some needed medical supply.

"Don't take less than 50 vials of penicillin for those peaches." Esposito added.

"Uh-huh, I'll see what I can do." Castle replied.

When it came to wheeling and dealing, the Latino corporal was one of the best. He even put some regular supply sergeants to shame. Castle was certain that underneath those corporal stripes beat the heart of a gypsy. Esposito had been a combat infantryman with the 2nd Infantry Division which had been deployed to Korea in July 1950 not long after hostilities had broken out. A few months later he had been wounded in a battle and rather than be sent back State side to recover he had been shipped to Tokyo. When he had recovered from his wounds, the Army in its infinite wisdom had assigned him to 4077th MASH.

Esposito walked around the Jeep and came to stand beside Major Beckett. He reached into the pocket of his shirt and pulled out a letter.

"Here, Major, before you go. You got a letter from Major Davidson."

Beckett's eyes lit up at the mention of her fiancé and she snatched the letter with haste.

"Thank you." She muttered as she immediately attacked the envelope, tearing it open and pulling out the letter and unfolded it.

Beckett had started to read the letter when she noticed Castle leaning towards her. She lowered the letter and glared at him.

"Would you mind leaning back?" She said.

"Why? Is something going to jump out of it?" Castle replied.

"I don't want you reading over my shoulder."

"You're no fun."

Captain Kevin Ryan came sauntering up to the Jeep carrying a box with him. Captain Ryan was another resident of The Swamp. There was an impish expression on his face as he passed the box to Castle.

"What's all this stuff?" Castle asked as he took the box from his tent mate.

"Lipstick, nylons, perfume. And a jar of Burke's caviar." Captain Ryan reported.

"Well, you can only go so far with peaches." Castle said as he stowed the box in the back of the Jeep.

"Did Carter mind?" Castle asked.

"Didn't say a word." Ryan replied, grinning. "Didn't even wake up."

Castle shared a conspiratorial grin with Ryan.

Captain Ryan had been with the 4077th for a little over six months. He and Castle had become fast friends almost immediately. Ryan stood a little below average height and had a fresh faced, almost boy-next-door expression that seemed to be permanently etched on his face. Married and with a kid, Ryan came from a large Irish family in New York. He was considered the black sheep of the family. Instead of going into the family business and becoming a New York cop, Ryan had chosen medicine instead, and had become a surgeon.

Colonel Montgomery walked up to the still stationary Jeep.

"You kids be sure and call us when you get there so we'll know you're alright." Montgomery said in a fatherly tone of voice.

"Yes, dad." Castle replied.

Beckett, still reading the letter in her hand let out an exasperated gasp.

"Boy, he sure packs a lot in a few sentences." Castle observed.

"Mind your own business." Beckett snapped, angrily.

Castle started up the Jeep and revved up the motor a couple of times.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Ryan said.

"What don't you do?" Castle asked him.

"I'll think of something." Ryan shrugged.

"Can we go?" Beckett demanded.

"Yes, dear."

A moment later the outraged form of Major Carter Burke burst out of the Swamp.

"He stole my caviar!" He bellowed.

"Well bye folks. We'll write." Castle shouted as he floored the Jeep and tore out of the camp compound.

XXX

For the past hour and a half Castle and Beckett had been driving in silence with only the pot holes in the road to break the monotony. Castle glanced at his companion from time to time and saw her sitting there in brooding silence. The silence between the two of them was starting to get on his nerves and he decided to do something about it. Once more he started to sing the opera ditty he had been singing the night before.

Beckett slowly looked away from staring at the passing scenery and turned to look at Castle.

"Do you have to sing?"

"I didn't bring my tap shoes." Castle replied.

"You have a grating voice." Beckett looked away.

"Oh, it's just a modest voice. I never thought of it as great."

"Grating. _Grating_. Ting, ting."

"Hello."

"What?"

"It's a game, right?" Castle told her. "Like knock, knock. You say, 'Ting, ting', and I say 'hello'."

Castle paused a moment to negotiate a large pot hole in the middle of the road. Once he had the Jeep back straight he glanced at Beckett.

"Okay, go ahead."

Beckett cast him a glare but did not respond.

"Hello?" Castle encouraged. Still no response from Beckett. "What's the joke?"

Suddenly Beckett rounded on Castle.

"The joke is that of all the people I could've driven 40 miles into the wilderness with, I had to get an orangutan."

"A ruggedly handsome, orangutan." Castle corrected, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Beckett let out a frustrated sigh and turned her head away from him.

"Look, Kate, why don't we make the best of this?" Castle ventured.

The use of her first name caught Beckett's attention. It was very rarely that Castle used her first name. Slowly she turned to look at him.

"There's no reason we can't pass the time pleasantly, okay?"

Beckett had to concede that Castle had a point.

"Okay." She said.

"Hey, why don't you read me your letter?" Castle suggested.

The anger that she had managed to tamp down in an effort to get along suddenly flared again.

"Why don't you eat your steering wheel?" She shouted and looked away.

Castle frowned as he glanced at Beckett.

"I was just trying to be friendly." Castle offered.

Castle shook his head at the sudden change that had occurred. He could not understand it. Something was bothering Beckett. The more he thought about the more he realised that it must have something to do with the letter she had just received. It intrigued him. One way or another he was going to get to the bottom of the mystery.

XXX

For the next ten minutes Castle remained silent concentrating on the road. As intrigued as he was about finding out what was bothering Beckett he chose to make sure to avoid the potholes in the road they were travelling on. The ride was still pretty bumpy thanks to the state of disrepair of the road. Castle tried to avoid some of the bigger ones swerving from one side of the road to the other. A couple of times he almost swerved off the road to avoid a particularly deep crater in the road. It had not escaped his attention that the road they were on had narrowed with high embankments on either side.

Castle gripped the steering wheel and swerved sharply to avoid another deep hole. The front left wheel caught the side of the hole and sent the Jeep bouncing up into the air. Castle felt the impact in the base of his spine but he ignored the discomfort as he struggled to keep the Jeep steady.

"Where did you learn to drive, Castle?" Beckett inquired, glancing at him.

"The dodgem cars at Coney Island." Castle replied as he swerved to avoid another nasty looking pot hole directly ahead.

Beckett was about to make a retort by she had to grab the side of the Jeep to avoid being thrown out of it. Once the Jeep settled she cast a withering look in Castle's direction and just shook her head.

Suddenly the piercing shriek of an incoming artillery shell broke the relative silence. The shell exploded in a geyser of earth, rock and smoke off to Castle's left. Almost immediately Castle planted his foot on the brake forcing the Jeep to come to a skidding halt. Shells began to explode all around them.

"What the hell are you doing?" Beckett shouted.

"Getting out of here. What do you think?" Castle shouted back. He struggled to put the Jeep into reverse. More artillery shells began exploding all around them.

"Keep moving!"

"You watch how fast I move once I turn around." Castle replied, trying not to panic but was not doing a good job of it. The shells were getting too close for comfort.

"Straight ahead!" Beckett shouted above the exploding shells. "They're not going to hit anything."

"They're hitting the road. You don't call that anything?"

"What are you going to do? Go backwards all the way home?"

"I'm trying to find a place to turn around." Castle said desperately as he shifted the gear into reverse.

Castle was about to plant his foot on the gas pedal when he heard a the ominous whistle of an incoming shell. Castle stopped what he was doing and reached out and pushed Beckett down forward and did the same as the shell landed less than twenty feet on the road directly behind the Jeep. Shrapnel pieces whizzed low over their heads. Castle felt Beckett struggle to get up but he continued to hold her down as clods of earth and mud rained down on them.

"Maybe you're right." Castle remarked.

A shell exploded nearby close to the road up ahead.

"Are you trying to get us killed?" Beckett shouted. "Get this car into gear and start driving that way!" She pointed an arm directly in front of them.

"In case you haven't noticed, they're lobbing shells over there." Castle shouted back.

Several shells landed in rapid succession two of them exploding behind them and the third exploding off the left but close by.

"Okay, okay." Castle said.

He roughly put the Jeep into gear, crunching them as he did so but not caring what damage that might have caused the Jeep. All he cared was to get the hell away from the shelling. He planted his foot on the gas and the Jeep responded almost leaping forward in its haste to get away. It too did not like the shelling either.

"Are you alright?" Castle asked a few moments later when they had gotten away from the immediate shelling.

Beckett did not respond.

"Beckett, are you alright." Castle said louder.

That got her attention. She turned her pale face towards him and nodded her head.

"The 8063rd shouldn't be too far away." He said.

Beckett nodded her head again.

XXX

Castle took the turn through the small ravine perhaps a little too quickly than he would normally have done but the artillery shells were still falling all around them with one or two landing close to the road they were travelling on. He was not in the mood to give whoever was firing the shells a chance to hit them.

The road straightened out and opened up to a wide flat area of land. Looking straight ahead Castle slammed on the brakes. He could not believe what he was seeing. He had been expecting to see rows of khaki coloured tents of various shapes and sizes, many of which should have large red crosses painted on the tops and sides. He also expected to see army personnel going about their business. He saw none of that.

What his eyes beheld were the skeletons of tents. There was not a soul to be seen. Castle rose from his seat and stared at the bleak scene. He could tell that the inhabitants had hurriedly left. He turned and looked down at Beckett, who was also staring at the ghostly scene ahead.

"They bugged out." Castle said, disbelief lacing his voice.

"That means we're behind enemy lines." Beckett replied worriedly.

Almost as if the enemy were listening to her they promptly responded with an artillery barrage. Shells began to rain down all around them but mostly behind them and they were creeping closer and closer towards the Jeep.

"Let's get out of here." Castle announced as he dropped down to his seat.

"Hurry, will you." Beckett shouted.

"I'm hurrying."

"Let's go!"

"We're going! We're going!"

Castle gunned the engine and took the road that passed through the compound of the now empty camp.

"Why are you taking this road!" Beckett demanded angrily.

"Because they're not shelling it." Castle replied. "I try to avoid roads that are in the process of disappearing."

Beckett shot Castle and angry glare but did not say anything.

A mile away from the camp the shelling had lessened but there was the occasional shell that exploded close by. Castle frowned with some concern because he had heard an ominous rattle coming from the Jeep's engine.

"What's that?" He said.

"Artillery. Don't be such a coward." Beckett retorted.

The banging in the engine compartment grew louder as the Jeep began to slow down.

"That." Castle pointed towards the engine.

"Oh, that. Don't pay it any attention."

Castle looked at Beckett incredulously. The engine spluttered loudly. There was a loud clunk and the engine died. The Jeep rolled to a stop. He gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to go into a mild panic." Castle announced, only half joking. "There's something wrong with the motor."

Beckett turned her head and looked at Castle.

"Get out an fix it." She said when Castle did not move.

"Oh, okay."

Castle released his grip on the steering wheel and slowly got out of the keep. He gave Beckett a quick grin.

"I'll have this thing going in no time." He remarked.

Castle walked up to the front of the Jeep. He looked down at it for a moment before he delivered a kick to the front of it.

"What are you doing?" Beckett demanded.

"You have to know how to treat these brutes." Castle informed her. "I had a stubborn Studebaker once. The only thing they understand is a good, swift kick in the radiator." He gave the Jeep another kick.

Beckett shook her head at Castle's antics.

"Open the hood." She ordered him, rising from her seat.

Castle pointed to the bonnet and looked back at Beckett. "That's this, right?"

Beckett rolled her eyes. She fumed silently as she watched Castle undo the latches of the hood and lifted it up.

Castle poked his head under the hood and stared down at the engine. He had little or no idea how to fix the engine. He had become a doctor so that he could repair the human body he had no idea how to repair a broken mechanical engine.

"It ought to be all downhill from here on." He remarked cheerfully as he reached down and tugged on a couple of cables. "Probably something very simple, like maybe a broken buckle on a fan belt."

He tugged on the fan belt or what he thought was the fan belt. It seemed alright to him.

Beckett could not stand it any longer she jumped down from the Jeep and marched up to the front.

"Let me see."

"I thought you'd never ask." Castle replied, with relief.

Castle watched as Beckett poked around the engine.

"Maybe the muffler unravelled?" Castle suggested. "Or maybe the radiator cap snapped its brim?"

He saw Beckett try the same engine items he had tried.

"I tried that already." He pointed out.

Beckett ignored him and continued poking around the engine.

"Beckett, face it. The patient is dead." Castle insisted. "Why don't we pull a sheet over its headlights and move on?"

Beckett continued to fiddle with items on the engine for a moment before she let out a sigh and stepped back.

"Why don't we pull a sheet over its headlights and move on?" She said incredulously.

"It would be the decent thing to do. Unless you want to say a little prayer first. But I don't know what religion it was."

Beckett gave Castle one of her patterned glares. It took all of her self control not to shout at him.

The grin on Castle's face slipped when he cocked his ear. He listened a moment.

"I think we've got company coming." He said in a low voice.

Beckett was ready to argue with him but she heard the voices that were approaching. Her heart sank when she recognised that it was Korean voices. If they were behind enemy lines those voices belonged to North Korean soldiers.

Castle moved to Jeep and grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder and then he grabbed Beckett's bag as well.

"Let's get out of here." He said as he reached her. He did not wait for a response from Beckett he just grabbed her by the arm and together they rushed towards a ditch some distance away from the Jeep. They jumped into the ditch and lay very flat.

"You okay?" Castle whispered.

Beckett nodded her head.

Slowly Castle lifted his head above the ditch. He saw two North Korean soldiers had reached the abandoned Jeep. The enemy soldiers had become excited at discovering all the goodies stored in the back of the Jeep.

Beckett also carefully raised her head and saw one of the North Korean soldiers leave the back and jump into the driver's seat. He tried to start up the Jeep and found it would not start. He got out and walked to the front and poked his head under the hood. He fiddled around with engine for about a minute before he stepped back and closed the hood. The soldier got into the driver's seat and tried the engine again. The Jeep coughed and spluttered into life. With an excited shout the driver got his comrade to jump into the passenger seat. The two soldiers were laughing excitedly as they drove off with their spoils of war.

Castle ducked his head as the Jeep drove past. He then watched it disappear down the road in a cloud of dust. He could feel a pair of angry hazel eyes burning a hole in his head. Slowly he turned around to look at a very angry Beckett.

"Hey, I hope you're not blaming me for that?" He said, trying to look innocent.

"How can a grown man be so mechanically incompetent?" Beckett seethed.

"I'm from New York. I take a lot of cabs." Castle offered in his defence.

Beckett rolled her eyes. She quickly scrambled to her feet and stared down the road where the North Koreans had driven. She turned and started to walk they way they had come.

"Come on." She ordered.

Castle got to his feet and quickly fell into step beside the seething Major.

"Boy, I wouldn't want to be those guys when the Colonel finds out his Jeep is missing."

Beckett shot her companion an angry glare but remained silent as she walked down the road. It took all of her will power not to slug him.

XXX

Castle glanced up at the sky and could not help but frown. It was late afternoon and it would be getting dark soon. He and Beckett had been walking for over an hour and had not seen another soul in that time. They would have to find shelter soon. He glanced at Beckett who was walking a couple of paces ahead of him. She had not spoken to him since they had started walking. A moment ago she had taken out the letter she had received and was reading it again.

Just for something to do Castle started to hum an old marching song. Getting no response from Beckett he started to hum even louder. Beckett glanced at him.

"Not another idiotic note." She warned.

"I was just trying to be military."

Beckett let out a grunt.

"You know, you shouldn't read while you walk. It makes you grunt."

"Butt out, will you...you...you can't even fix a simple case of engine trouble." Beckett said. "What kind of man are you?

"Certainly not a serviceman."

"In more ways than one." Beckett muttered under her breath.

Castle spotted a ramshackle hut in the distance off the road. He sent up a small prayer of thanks on seeing the hut. It might not have been the Ritz but it would provide some shelter for the night. He left the road and started on the path that wended its way over to the hut. He paused and looked back to the road and saw that Beckett had not noticed that he had turned off.

"Beckett, come here." He called out. Beckett did not hear him and continued on her way. "Beckett, over here." He shouted.

Beckett shoved the letter back into the pocket of her combat jacket and turned around. She found that Castle wasn't on the road.

"Come here." Castle shouted again.

Beckett turned to the sound of the his voice and found him on the small path.

"Where are you going?" She demanded.

"There's a Holiday Inn over there." Castle pointed to the ramshackle hut.

Castle waited until Beckett caught up to him before he started making his way to the hut.

"Let's see if we can check in for the night." He quipped.

A minute later they reached the front door of the hut and paused. Castle looked over to Beckett.

"Do you want two single rooms or a double?" He asked, the hint of a smile on his lips.

Beckett rolled her eyes at that joke.

"Hey, we can sign in as 'Mr and Mrs Smith'." Castle added excitedly. "I've always wanted to to do that."

Beckett did not bother to respond to that remark. She gave him a glare then turned and pushed the door open. She stepped into the hut first and Castle quickly followed her, closing the door behind him.

"Cute." Castle remarked as he surveyed the dilapidated interior of the hut. There was little furniture except for a small wooden table and two chairs in the middle of the hut. There was dust covering everything. It appeared the previous occupants had vacated rapidly taking everything they could carry. "This is place is a handyman's delight. A real fixer upper." Castle added.

Castle unslung his bag and set it down on a small shelf and continued looking around the hut. There was a fireplace with the ashes of previous fires still remaining. There were no logs to be found if they needed a fire to keep them warm during the night. Thankfully the nights were not too cold these days.

Castle stopped and cocked his ear towards the ceiling and a moment later he heard the shriek of an incoming artillery shell. He turned towards Beckett. He had taken one step when the shell exploded nearby. The hut shuddered from the concussion of the explosion. Several more shells exploded nearby moments later sending dust falling to the floor of the hut.

"I'm not staying here!" Beckett shouted. "It's the perfect target."

Castle reached Beckett and caught her by the arm before she made a dash out the door into the shelling.

"Beckett, some forward observer is probably using this hut as his registration point." He told her. Beckett tried to shrug off his arm but Castle held her firmly. "He's not going to destroy his own benchmark." He added.

Beckett relaxed and looked at Castle.

"That's right." She agreed.

Castle released her arm and stepped back once he was certain that she was not going to bolt out the door. "I didn't know you knew anything military."

"I learned it at the movies." Castle shrugged. "Abbott and Costello Meet Hitler."

Beckett felt the corners of her lips curl upwards into a faint smile. She watched Castle as he walked over to the table and sat himself down on one of the chairs.

After the initial artillery barrage that lasted for about ten minutes shells began to fall intermittently.

XXX

Beckett walked over to the door and opened it and peered out. A shell exploded thirty feet from the door. Beckett closed the door and threw herself to the floor. Moments later the door was impacted with shrapnel from the shell.

Castle launched himself from his chair and rushed over to where Beckett lay.

"Beckett...Beckett are you alright?" He asked anxiously as he knelt beside her.

"I'm fine."

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

Castle was relieved to hear that. He helped Beckett up to her feet. Beckett gave him a nod of thanks before she looked to the door.

"There's someone out there." She informed him. "I thought I saw someone out there."

Castle rushed to the door and opened it. He searched the immediate area surrounding the hut. Through the dissipating smoke he spotted a soldier laying on the ground some fifty feet away. From that distance Castle could not tell whether it was an enemy or friendly soldier. Either way it did not matter to Castle. The man was wounded and needed help. Beckett came to stand beside him in the doorway.

"Beckett, stay here. I'll be back in a minute."

"Wait. You're not going out there." Beckett said anxiously.

"Hard to believe, isn't it?"

"You just said it was raining artillery shells."

"I'll run between the drops."

"I'm coming with you." Beckett resolved.

"Oh, no." Castle retorted. "Every time we try to do something together, we have a twenty minute debate about it."

Beckett hated to admit it but he may have had a point.

"Okay." She conceded. "Just make sure you keep low."

"I promise."

Castle stepped out the door. He studied the distance between the soldier and the hut and nodded to himself, roughly about fifty feet, he thought to himself. A shell exploded off to his right. Castle turned his back and ducked a little making sure to cover Beckett. Straightening up he looked at Beckett. He saw her hazel eyes were filled with concern.

"Castle, be careful, okay?" Beckett said in a low voice.

"Do I detect concern for my well being?"

"Screw up and I'll kill you."

"Ah that's better." Castle chuckled.

Castle turned and crouched down and slowly made his way towards the fallen soldier.

"Lower!" Beckett shouted from the doorway.

Castle did as he was told crouching even lower and crab walked.

"You know absolutely nothing about soldiering." Beckett said in exasperation.

Castle paused and looked back in the direction of the hut and focused his gaze on Beckett, giving her a dirty look. She was crouched low by the door and gave him an apologetic wave of her hand, silently urging him to continue.

Turning to face the direction he was about to go Castle slowly rose up a little only to throw himself flat on his face as an artillery shell landed some fifty feet off to his right. With clods of earth falling around his ears Castle decided to crawl the rest of the way.

"That's better." He heard Beckett call out.

Castle paused several times as more shells exploded. Eventually he reached where the soldier lay. Getting on his knees he turned the soldier over. A frown creased his face as he stared down at the soldier. The soldier, a North Korean, was beyond help. Shrapnel had taken half his face and head, as well as making a mess of his torso.

Castle turned away and rose into a crouch and started on his way back to the hut. Once more he paused a couple of times for shells to fall before he resumed his return. Looking up he saw that Beckett had not moved from her spot by the door. She had been watching his progress all the way with an anxious expression on her face.

Nearing the door to the hut Castle rose to his feet. Beckett emerged from the doorway and she didn't look happy.

"What's the matter with you?" She scolded. "You run out there and risk your life and then you come back without him?"

"He's dead." Castle said simply.

Beckett stared at him. The heated words on the tip of her tongue vanished. She nodded her head in understanding.

The shrill shriek of incoming shell got their attention. The shrillness was an indication that it was going to land very close. Castle was the first to react. He threw himself on Beckett and together they fell to the ground just as the shell exploded a short distance away. Castle felt a sting in the back of his thigh.

When the dust and smoke cleared Beckett found that Castle had landed on top of her.

"Alright." she said. "You can get off me now."

"Yeah...okay." Castle muttered but made no moved to get up.

"You better get off me buster!" Beckett warned angrily, pushing against him.

"Ah...uh...I think I got something stuck in my leg."

"Oh, my God."

Beckett scrambled from underneath Castle. She grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet. She then threw his arm around her shoulder and put her arm around his waist and assisted him back into the hut. Together they staggered over to the table where she finally let go of Castle and he fell over the table.

Beckett reached for her medical kit and brought it to the table. She tore open Castle's trouser leg. The sound of tearing fabric got a rise from Castle.

"Beckett, there's not time for that now." He quipped. "Look at my wound."

"Will you be quiet? You're hurt." Beckett replied.

""How bad is?" Castle asked trying not to sound too worried. "I can hardly feel it."

"You got a chunk of wood in there."

Beckett was all business now as she got ready to remove the large splinter that had been embedded in Castle's thigh. She had inspected the wound first and was relieve to see that there was not any other shrapnel pieces embedded in his leg other than the wood splinter. She might have all business but she was not above having a little fun at Castle's expense.

"So you want me to take it out, Castle?"

"Of course I do." Castle retorted, wincing at the pain that was coursing through his leg. "If I want a souvenir, I'll go to a gift shop."

Beckett grinned as she picked up the bottle of alcohol and uncapped it.

"I'm going to pour some alcohol on the wound. It might sting."

Castle let out a fierce hiss of pain as the alcohol splashed over the wound.

"Stop twitching! You're making this very difficult." Beckett said as she moved forward with a pair of tweezers ready to remove the splinter.

"Forget it. Leave it in!" Castle said breathlessly as the pain in his leg increased.

"Hold still." Beckett ordered.

"Ow!" Castle yelled.

"Hold still you big baby. I can't get a hold of it with you moving around."

Beckett grabbed the offending piece of wood with the tweezers and carefully tugged at it. The splinter at first refused to budge. Ignoring Castle's pain-filled shouts she gave the splinter another tug and was relieved when it came away.

"There." Beckett announced, holding up the splinter.

Castle grunted his thanks.

"You want to have a look at it?" Beckett offered.

"Just clean it and put a dressing on it." Castle instructed through gritted teeth.

"Let me give you a shot of morphine."

Castle shook his head.

"Okay, but this is going to hurt a little." Beckett warned him."

"That's alright."

"Uh-huh."

A trio of artillery shells exploding close to the hut had Castle shouting loudly.

"I haven't even started yet, Castle."

"I know, I'm just practising." He replied and offered Beckett a smirk.

Beckett shook her head slowly before focusing her attention to taking caring of the wound. It took her just a few minutes to clean the wound and put a dressing on it. She had been pleased and relieved to see that the wound did not need any stitches.

(End of Part 1)

XXXXX

_**As usual, your thoughts and opinions on this effort would be gratefully accepted. If you have any suggestions feel free to message and let me know.**_

_**Con **_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Comrades In Arms

(MASH TV Show)

Part 2

Castle was pacing slowly back and forth inside the hut. He had tried sitting but found his wounded leg throbbed maddeningly if he sat for too long. Pacing back and forth eased some of the pain. Pacing back and forth gave him something to do. He was pleased to note that the shelling had stopped for the time being.

As he paced he cast a look at Beckett. She was sitting at the table and staring into the distance, lost in her own thoughts. She had been like that for some time now.

"I'm sorry I insisted on going ahead when we started getting shelled." Beckett said, suddenly breaking the silence in the hut, feeling his eyes on her.

"Oh that's alright. You come from a long line of courageous military people. Insanity is hereditary." Castle replied.

"I suppose I deserve that." She huffed.

Castle paused his pacing and regarded Beckett sitting there. He felt a little sheepish with what he had just said to her. She did not really deserve that.

"No, you don't." He said gently.

Beckett slowly turned and looked at Castle.

"I was upset." She explained. "I wasn't thinking clearly."

"What's eating you, anyway?" Castle asked. Then he remembered the letter. "What's in the letter?"

"What's in it?" Beckett said, suddenly riled up.

"Never mind." Castle waved a hand. Every time he mentioned the letter Beckett got her back up and took it out on him. He was tired of fighting with her.

Castle turned and slowly walked over to the shelf where he had left his bag. He started chuckling loudly as he reached into the bag.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I remembered something." Castle said. He pulled out the bottle he had stored in there and slowly made his way to the table.

"You're going to be sorry you were mean to me when you see what I brought."

"Probably a bottle of that liquid rat poison of yours. Forget it."

The home made gin Castle and his fellow tent mate Captain Ryan made in the still they had in the Swamp, had been called a great number of names over the past two and a half years. Liquid Rat poison was just the latest in a long line of names. What ever it was called Castle had found it helped to make life a little more bearable here in Korea.

"Ha-ha on you." Castle chuckled as he gingerly eased himself down on a chair at the table. With a bright smile on his face he lifted up the bottle to show Beckett.

"Japanese scotch." He announced.

"So how good could that be?" Beckett scoffed.

"How good does it have to be?" Castle replied.

Beckett stared at the bottle in Castle's hands considering the offer. Reaching a decision she held out her hand to him for the bottle.

"Give me the bottle."

Castle passed the bottle across to Beckett and she quickly unscrewed the cap. She pointed to the ceramic cup on the table.

"Is that cup clean?" She asked.

Castle picked up the cup and peered into it.

"It can't be too dirty. Whatever is in the bottom is still alive." Castle remarked.

Beckett reached across the table and snatched the cup out of Castle's hand. She poured a generous measure into the cup and held it out to Castle who took it with a nod of thanks. She then picked up the other cup and quickly filled it. Setting the bottle down on the table Beckett picked up her cup and brought it to her mouth.

Beckett took a big sip of the scotch and Castle did the same. He winced at the taste of the fiery liquid as it made its way down his throat. It was not as good as he had been hoping then again he had not paid anything for it. Truth be told he had liberated it from Major Burke's personal locker. Taking another sip of the scotch Castle regretted not having taken the other bottle, the one labelled 'saki'. That bottle probably had the good stuff.

Beckett took another sip from her cup.

"Do you think we'll ever get out of here?" Beckett asked, drawing Castle from his thoughts. He looked at Beckett and shrugged his shoulders. "I was going to ask you the same question."

Though he tried not to show it he was starting to get a little worried about their current situation. They must be behind enemy lines if the dead North Korean soldier was anything to go by. If they were behind the line then the possibility of being captured by the North Koreans or Chinese grew stronger the longer they were in these parts. The enemy was not known for observing the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of enemy prisoners. He did not even want to think about what they might do to Beckett.

"I don't like the war, you know?" Beckett announced suddenly and then paused to take a sip from her cup. Setting the cup down she looked across to Castle.

"I hate it." She stated. "I hate the destruction. The stupidity of the waste." She paused and let out a low choked sob. "The disruption to personal lives."

"Kate, what's in the letter?" Castle asked her gently.

"Oh, well, this will probably give you a laugh." Beckett pulled out the letter from the pocket of her combat jacket. She unfolded it quickly and cast a glance at Castle. "For instance, this is only the beginning..."

Castle gave her an encouraging nod of his head.

"'_My dear Darlene...'_"

Castle's forehead creased with confusion. "Is that your nickname?"

"No." Beckett said firmly.

"Why is he calling you Darleen?" Castle questioned.

"He's not calling me Darleen. He put this letter in the wrong envelope."

Understanding flooded across Castle's face. He shook his head slowly in disbelief. How could Beckett's fiancé be so dumb, he wondered to himself?

"_My dear Darleen,_" Beckett continued reading the letter she was holding. "_How long has it been since we walked together on the beach at Oahu? I can still see the moonlight splashing on your shoulders and hear the gentle whoosh, whoosh, whoosh of the waves._"

Beckett lowered the letter and looked at Castle.

"His last letter to me dealt entirely with a self-loading semi-automatic submachine gun. My letter went 'clickerty, click, click'. Whereas hers goes, 'whoosh, whoosh, whoosh'."

"And splashing moonlight." Castle added helpfully.

Beckett glared at him before she turned her attention to the letter and resumed reading aloud.

"_I know you've heard I'm engaged. I'm sure you'd like her. She's competent and a hard worker..._"

Castle shook his head again. Was the man deranged or something? In the two and a half years he had known Beckett, competent did not even begin to describe her. Also, of the nursing staff there was no one who worked harder than Major Kate Beckett. Sure, they had their differences and their run ins. All of a sudden he wanted to rise to her defence. Wisely he kept his mouth closed.

"_She'll make an excellent hostess when we return to the States._" Beckett continued. "_All in all, a sturdy woman._"

Beckett dropped the letter to the table.

"Sturdy!" She shouted with growing emotion.

"Um...sturdy is..."

"Sturdy!" Beckett interjected angrily, cutting off Castle. "I mean nothing to him. If I were a half ton truck he would be more lyrical about me! And the worst thing is this stupid woman with the ocean whooshing all over her toes is this minute reading the letter he meant for me."

"I'm sorry, Kate." Castle said quietly. "You must really hurt."

"Hurt? You know what it feels like to give your heart to somebody? To live just for a glimpse of his handwriting in the mail? To lose sight of his picture because you've covered it with lipstick? And then to find out you're _sturdy_?"

Castle was taken aback a little as this was the first time he could recall of Beckett opening up to him, revealing something of herself that was deeply personal. Beckett was an intensely private person at the best of times keeping a lot of stuff close to her vest. It was not an easy task living close to jowl in front line surgical hospital, pretty soon one got to know everyone else's business. Beckett had managed to keep some things private.

"And then to have them lob artillery shells at you, huh?" Beckett added.

"It's certainly been an interesting day." Castle agreed.

He glanced down at the table top for a couple of moments searching his mind for the right words that he could say to her. He was a published author, he reminded himself. Try as he might he could not find the right words, at least nothing that did not sound trite. He chose instead to be honest. "Kate, I wish there was something I could say to ease the pain."

Beckett lifted her chin, a defiant pose even though her eyes glinted with tears that threatened to spill but making an enormous effort not to let them fall.

"I'm alright, Castle." She said evenly, giving him a faint smile. "I've always taken great pride in the fact that I can adjust to anything."

"Why don't you get it out of your system?" Castle suggested.

"I'm fine." Beckett insisted. "Thanks for the drink."

Castle picked up the scotch bottle.

"You want some more?" He asked.

"Oh, a sip, maybe."

Beckett beckoned for the bottle of scotch. Caste passed it over and watched with surprise as Beckett didn't just put a splash in her cup she filled it almost to the brim before she put the bottle on the table. He was even more surprised to see her down half the contents of the cup almost in one gulp. He, on the other hand took a little time to finish off his own drink.

XXX

It was late in the evening when Castle gathered up the left overs from their meal. It had consisted of dried crackers that he was certain had been war surplus from World War 2 which some one in Supply Command considered were still edible enough to be given to the troops in Korea. Along with the crackers there was strawberry jam and it was washed down with the rest of the scotch. It was not a meal fit for a king but it was enough to satisfy their hunger pains.

He deposited the empty jam tin cans and boxes in a corner of the hut. He limped back to the table. He watched as Beckett made her way to the other side of the hut. It had not escaped his notice that she was holding a long round stick in her hand. Where she had found it Castle had no idea.

"I'm sleeping over there." Beckett informed him, pointing out the selected spot with the stick in her hand.

"Okay."

Castle had half expected that they would sleep together for warmth. He had been ready to make the suggestion but she had spoken first. Beckett paused and looked in Castle's direction.

"Oh, and I should warn you, if you come over here for any reason during the night, announce yourself." Beckett showed him the stick she was holding. "I intend to swing this to kill."

Castle broke into a grin and nodded his head to show that he understood the warning. He had no doubt that she could and would use the stick like a baseball bat if he wandered over there unannounced.

Beckett quickly settled down on the floor using her bag as a pillow. Castle rose from the table. He leaned over and blew out the candle. Then he slowly eased himself down to the floor and onto the makeshift bed that he had made.

"Night, Castle." Beckett called out.

"Until the morning, Kate." Castle replied automatically.

Castle closed his eyes and silently waited for sleep to come. The shelling had stopped about an hour or so ago, just around the time they were eating dinner. He did know when but he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that the shelling would start up again. Even artillerymen had to take a break to eat dinner, he figured.

Pushing aside thoughts about when the next artillery barrage was going to come his thoughts turned to Beckett. He really felt for her. He had met her fiancé only once, when he had come to the 4077th on a flying visit. He was a high flying medico stationed at Tokyo General with the reputation to match. If that was not enough, he also had the swarthy good looks that made women swoon.

To Castle the man seemed friendly enough but he would have liked to have seen if that reputation of his was well deserved or not. As it happened Major Josh Davidson MD had visited the 4077th when there had been a lull in the fighting and no wounded had come in. Yet not an hour after he had departed the camp than the casualties had started coming in.

Now that Castle thought about he did not like the man all that much. He did not like him because he had upset Beckett. How could the man describe her as 'sturdy'? He shook his head in disbelief.

"Kate." Castle said into the silence.

"What?"

Castle was not surprised to find that she was not asleep yet either.

"I wouldn't use the word 'sturdy' to describe you."

"Oh, and what word would you use?"

Castle thought for just a moment. A smile appeared on his lips as the right word came to him.

"Extraordinary."

The silence seemed to drag on before Beckett responded.

"Well, you're not so bad yourself, Castle."

Castle smiled even more.

XXX

Castle had been dozing, somewhere in that world between full consciousness and deep sleep. That nether world where dreams were born and took flight. He was but moments away from falling into deep sleep when he heard the shriek of an incoming artillery shell. His sleep filled brain did not fully register the danger of the falling shell.

Castle wasn't sure which was louder, the shell exploding or Kate's screaming. It didn't really matter because he snapped open his eyes and hurriedly sat up. A sharp bolt of pain lanced through his leg reminding him in no uncertain terms of his wound but he ignored the pain as he scrambled to get up and reach for the matches on the table.

Another shell exploded nearby just as he struck the match and lit the candle. The artillery barrage had started up again. The hut seemed to shudder with each explosion, shaking out more dust from the ceiling. Now that there was light inside the hut Castle looked over to where Kate was.

She was sitting up and screaming at the incoming shells. There was a pale terrified expression on her face. Castle could not quite make out what she was screaming but he really did not care what she was saying. The shells were getting closer and closer and louder.

He winced at the of pain in his leg as he struggled to his feet. Ignoring the pain he hobbled across the hut over to where Beckett was. Another shell exploded just feet from the side of the hut. The wall shuddered under the concussion sending a cloud of dust across the room.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Beckett screamed. Her shout was drowned out by the explosion of another artillery shell.

Castle had finally managed to get across to the other side of the hut. He only needed one look at Beckett to realise that she was very close to losing it. She was staring up and shouting at the ceiling to the falling shells beyond, but her body was coiled ready to make a spring for the door.

"Beckett, come here." Castle called out.

Beckett did not hear him she was looking around wildly and shouting at the artillery.

"Come here." Castle shouted.

Castle rose up and grabbed her by the arm and pulled her down to the floor. For a moment he thought Beckett was going to fight him, struggle to break free of him. She turned her head and stared at Castle, almost if she was wondering how he had managed to get across the hut. The wild, fearful look in her eyes began to clear.

"I...I'm sorry." She stammered. "I'm afraid."

"Me too."

"I don't like being afraid. It scares me."

"Me too." Castle assured her.

Castle released his hold on Beckett's arm only so that he could wrap both arms around her and draw her close to him. He could feel her body shaking uncontrollably. He tighten his hold on her. He could understand the fear and terror she was going through. He had experienced those very same emotions the first time he had been caught in an artillery barrage when he had been sent up to the frontlines, to a battalion aid station for the very first time. Only he and his laundryman knew how scared he really had been on that occasion. It was nothing to be ashamed of. He had seen some of the toughest soldiers go to pieces under artillery barrages.

"Please hold me." Beckett said.

"I'm holding you."

Several shells landed close by creating a tremendous crash.

"Hold me." Beckett begged. "Hold me."

"Kate, I am holding you." Castle assured her.

He held Beckett even tighter than before. She was still shaking but was relieved to find that the shaking was not as bad as it had been moments before. He could feel her arms around him, holding on for dear life.

A couple of more shells crashed into the ground shaking the foundations of the hut and loosening more dirt and dust from the ceiling. Castle had buried his face into Beckett's neck to avoid the falling dust getting into his eyes. As he lifted his head he felt Beckett's lips brush the side of his mouth.

He turned and looked at her. Beckett looked almost surprised as he did. He gazed into her hazel-green eyes. He could still see the fear in those eyes but he also saw something else, something that he could not quite put his finger on.

At the same time as a shell crashed outside Castle found himself leaning closer to Beckett, their lips crashing together. They started kissing each other, desperation and need fuelling their ardour. They pulled away only so that they could take a breath. A look of surprise filled Beckett's eyes as she stared at Castle. He was sure that his eyes reflected his own surprise. Beckett suddenly launched herself at him, her lips fusing with his. Castle slowly eased her down to the floor. He could feel her hands scrabbling at his clothes while his own hands started to roam over her body. Her soft moans only made him kiss her with more passion. The explosions beyond the but were forgotten.

XXX

Castle felt himself being drawn to consciousness. Something was tickling his nose. He twitched his nose hoping that the irritant would go away. His eyes remained closed. He did not need to open his eyes to know that it was still very early in the morning. Far too early in the morning to be getting up. The dream he had experienced was one of the most vivid and enjoyable he ever had. He wanted to hold onto it for as long as possible but already it was quickly slipping away from his grasp.

Taking a deep breath he smelt dust but there was also a faint trace of something else. His sleep addled brain was making him sluggish and he took another breath trying to discern what that faint aroma was. The answer came to him a few moments later. Cherries.

A smile slowly spread across his face as he felt pleased with himself at having picked that perfume. Cherries. He liked cherries. It was one of his favourite perfumes.

As he slowly came awake he strained his ears and he could hear the sounds of birds chirping outside. There was another sound that reached his ears. This other sound was closer. Slow and steady breathing. The smile on his face deepened when he realised that somebody warm was pressed up against his chest. His arm was draped over this sleeping warm body.

He took another deep breath and smelled cherries again. Something in the back of his mind told him

he knew of someone who smelled like cherries.

Castle snapped open his eyes. He blinked several times and looked down at the mass of brown hair that was sprayed over his left arm. Beckett rested her head in the crook of his shoulder a contented smile painted on her face.

He stared open mouthed as it all came back to him. What happened last night had not been some fantastic dream his mind had conjured up. It had been all too real and the proof of that was lying fast asleep in his arms.

Castle continued to gaze down at the sleeping woman. As much as he wanted to disengage himself from the sleeping Kate Beckett he feared that any movement would wake her up and he did not want to wake her up just yet. She looked so peaceful as she slept. Looked happy even. Far happier than she had been yesterday.

Settling down Castle could not help but smile to himself as he thought that he was responsible for putting that smile on Beckett's face. His smile deepened even more as he remembered what they had done the night before, despite all the fumbling with their clothes. If he had put a smile on her face then she certainly had put a pretty big smile on his.

Staring up at the ceiling he saw that there were a few holes in the roof. He took note of the silence and realised that the shelling had stopped. Maybe the artillerymen had taken a break to have breakfast, he wondered. Or better yet they had finally stopped firing their shells because they had run out. Whatever the reason Castle was grateful that the shelling had stopped.

His thoughts quickly returned to the woman sleeping beside him. If he was being honest with himself there had been more than a few occasions where had wondered what it would be like to spend the night with Beckett. He had even dreamed about it. It was more than pleasing to discover the reality was far, far better than the fantasy.

A rumbling in his stomach was the less than subtle reminder from his body that it needed sustenance. It seemed very loud in the silence of the hut.

Beckett started to stir, and drew a deep breath. Castle stilled as he looked at her. He was afraid at how she would react when she found herself in his arms. If past history was anything to go by, there could be a lot of outraged shouting and some false accusations thrown about, not to mention a few solid objects thrown that were close at hand. Yet despite that he made no move to separate from her. He just waited, girding himself for what might come.

Beckett's eyes fluttered open. She blinked a couple of times as she looked up at Castle. Her hazel green eyes widened a little and she blinked again. As the sleep cleared from those hazel orbs the curious expression on her face slowly melted into a warm smile.

"Hey." She purred softly.

"Hi." Castle replied, starting to breath again.

Beckett closed her eyes. She let out a yawn as she stretched out almost cat-like. That was the way Castle would have described it. As she stretched the combat jacket he had placed over her sometime during the night slipped and revealed an expanse of flesh. Castle quickly released his hand and quickly pulled up the jacket to cover her. This earned him a grateful smile from Beckett.

"How did you sleep, Beckett?"

"Better than I have in a very long time." Beckett informed him. "You?"

"Same."

Beckett closed her eyes and continued to smile.

"What time is it?"

Castle checked his watch.

"About six-thirty." He informed her.

"Too early." She sighed.

Castle was fascinated as he looked at her. He had been worried, scared even, that Beckett might have turned into an angry banshee once the enormity of what they had done had sunk in but here she was lying in his arms, not wanting to move and smiling contently, almost without a care in the world.

This was a side of Beckett he had never seen before. Over the past two and a half years that they had been serving together treating the countless wounded soldiers that came through the hospital he had seen the best and worst side of her. Yet this was a side of her that she revealed to very few people. He could not help but feel a little privileged.

Castle's rumbling stomach pulled him away from his thoughts. Beckett opened her eyes at the sound.

"Someone's hungry." She giggled.

"Yeah." Castle agreed, a little sheepishly.

"Me too."

Castle slowly disengaged his arms from around Beckett and shifted backwards a little. He tried to get up and winced in pain. He had forgotten about his leg. He tried to get up again but gasped at the pain.

"Is it your leg?"

"Yeah. It's stiffened up." Castle replied.

He saw the wicked gleam in Beckett's eyes.

"I...I...I'll be okay." He stammered. "Just give me a minute."

"No, you stay where you are. I'll get us something to eat."

Beckett sat up quickly and as she did so the jacket that was draped over her slipped down to reveal her dishevelled clothing. Castle's eyes dropped to her open shirt and saw her bared breast. A moment later he realised that he was staring and started to look away.

"It's okay, Castle." Beckett informed him. "Nothing you haven't seen already."

Her gentle laughter made him blush, something he had not done in a very long time. All of a sudden he felt like a teenager again but he watched silently as Beckett slowly fixed up her bra and then started to do up the buttons of her shirt. He saw the large discolouration on her skin at the base of her throat and realised that he had given her a hickey.

Beckett gave him another smile as she pulled up her pants and buckled the belt. Once more he remembered that clothes had been pulled aside rather than taken off in their heated coupling. Neither of them had really cared. At the time it did not seem to matter.

Without a word she slowly got to her feet and walked across the hut to the table where their bags had been left. Castle continued to watch Beckett as she searched their bags looking for something to eat. He would have continued to watch her but her realised that his own pants were at half mast. With a little difficulty he struggled to pull them up, wincing at the pain in his leg but he pushed through the pain and eventually managed to pull his pants up. As he started doing up the button of his Hawaiian shirt he noticed a couple of discolourations on his chest. He started started to grin as he covered his chest. Beckett had managed to leave her mark on him it seemed.

Breakfast was the same as dinner had been, consisting of crackers and some jam. Beckett brought over the food and they ate it on the floor together. There was no scotch as they had finished the bottle the night before. It was hardly nutritious but it was enough to stop the hunger pains for a little while.

"It would have been nice if we had some of the peaches that Esposito had put in the Jeep." Beckett remarked.

"Yeah." Castle nodded. "Or some of Burke's caviar."

"Yeah."

Beckett finished the last of her crackers and wiped the crumbs off her fingers then she settled against Castle's chest as he leaned against the wall.

"I could kill for a cup of coffee." Beckett said.

Castle nodded his head. He could do with a cup of hot coffee right now too. A big steaming mug of black coffee. He looked down at Beckett.

"Can you survive without your coffee?" He asked.

Beckett shrugged her shoulders in answer to his question. Castle knew that Beckett loved her coffee. She was a coffee fiend and it could be dangerous to be around her if she did not have her daily shot of caffeine.

"I think I'll survive, just." She said with a half smile.

"Good to know."

There was a chill in the morning air and Castle reached for his combat jacket. He carefully draped it over Beckett. She let out a soft murmur of thanks and settled further against his chest.

"Do you think they're looking for us?" Beckett murmured.

"I guess so." Castle replied. "When we didn't show up at the 8063rd, someone must have raised the alarm."

"I wish we could stay here for ever." Beckett said softly.

Castle was surprised by her remark. He shifted his head so that he could look down at her and saw that her eyes were closed as she rested her head on his chest.

As much as he enjoyed holding Beckett in his arms, he knew that this small oasis of happiness would not last. In the early morning light reality was intruding into his thoughts. As much as he wanted the woman currently in his arms, the cold hard fact was that she was engaged to someone else. While he might have a reputation of being a womaniser, a reputation he played up to mainly to break up the boredom between treating incoming casualties, what he was not was that of a home wrecker. He did not get between a husband and a wife, nor did he get between an engaged couple. He had been on the receiving of such a thing and it was a pain he never wanted to inflict on anyone.

It did not mean that he would not cherish what happened between him and Beckett last night. It would be a memory that he would look on fondly for the rest of his life, of that he was sure.

"We can't stay here." Castle announced suddenly, his thoughts returning to the present. "There could be more enemy soldiers passing through, and I'd rather not be here when they do."

Beckett opened her eyes and looked up at Castle. A look of concern settled on her face.

"What about your leg?"

"I'll just have to manage somehow."

Beckett regarded Castle silently for some moments and then slowly, almost reluctantly nodded her head. With a heavy sigh she pulled away from Castle and got to her feet. Leaning down she held out her hand to Castle.

"Come on, I'll help you up."

Castle took hold of her offer hand and struggled to his feet. He hopped about a couple of times until he got his balance.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Beckett questioned, unable to hide the look of concern from her face.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Castle assured her.

Beckett regarded him for a moment. She did not want to start an argument with him so she quickly turned away and gathered up their combat jackets and handed Castle's his jacket and then put on her own. Castle had picked up their helmets and gave Beckett her helmet. She put it on and walked over to the table where she picked up their bags. She walked back to where Castle was standing and passed his bag to him. He slung the bag over his shoulder.

"Lead on." He motioned.

Beckett left the hut first. Castle paused and cast one final look around the hut to make sure that they had not left anything behind. He then limped out of the hut and joined Beckett outside. He slowly cast his gaze around the immediate area. He was shocked at what he saw. The ground had been ploughed mercilessly by the artillery shells, there were so many craters that it now resembled a bleak moonscape. How the shells had managed to miss the hut completely was something he would never know.

"I don't much like the landscaping." Castle remarked.

Castle looked in the direction where the body of the dead North Korean soldier lay and all he saw now was a large crater.

"So, which way?" Beckett asked.

Castle turned to looked at Beckett for a moment before turned his gaze to what remained of the road. He looked one way and then the other.

"That way." He announced, pointing in the direction they had come from.

"Are you sure?"

"That way is as good as any." Castle shrugged his shoulders.

Beckett looked at Castle and nodded her head. They started walking.

XXX

By his estimation Castle thought they had been walking for about half an hour not that he was really paying attention to the passing of time. His limp had become more pronounced the more intense the pain became. He could certainly use a rest break but he did not to voice the suggestion. As far as he or Beckett knew they could still be in enemy territory. The quicker they got away from this area the better he would feel.

Along the way he had fallen a few paces behind Beckett. She had not said anything but from time to time would look over her shoulder to see how he was fairing. Every time she did that he would flash her a big grin, as if to tell her that he was doing fine. Once her head turned his grin would vanish.

Still, walking a few paces behind Beckett was not all that bad. It afford him a pretty good view of her butt. It was the kind of butt that he could write odes to, he thought to himself with some amusement, if only had some paper and a pen. Gazing at her butt seemed to be the perfect antidote to take his mind off the pain in his leg.

"You better no be staring at by butt, Castle." Beckett warned, without looking around.

"What? Huh...n...no." Castle stammered., startled at having been caught out. How did she do that, he wondered?

Beckett paused on the road and slowly turned around to look at him. He saw the amused grin on her lips. The grin faded when she took a good look at him and saw his condition.

"You don't look so good, Castle. Do you want us to stop for a rest?"

"No. Let's keep going for a little longer."

"Sure?"

"I'm sure."

Beckett bit on her lower lip as she debated with herself about stopping and resting for a few minutes. She was not sure if he would appreciate if she decided to stop and rest. She decided that they would keep going for a little while longer.

She waited until Castle reached her. Without a word she took his arm and put it around her shoulders while her own arm snaked around his waist allowing her to take some weight off his wounded leg. Castle did not say anything over her actions other to nod his head in thanks. Slowly they resumed walking along the road.

"Have you thought about what you'll do when the war's over, Castle?"

"Get the hell out of Korea as fast as I can." Castle replied.

Beckett glanced at Castle, surprised at his rapid response.

"What I meant is, what are you going to do when you get back to the States?"

Castle had thought about it many times what he would do when he returned home. A smile rose to his face as he thought about it now.

"I have a daughter back home, whom I haven't seen in two years." He said slowly. "We have two years of catching up to do."

Beckett smiled and nodded her head.

"And after that?" She asked.

"Oh, I think I might buy myself a bar." Castle announced.

"A bar?"

"Yeah, a little place in midtown Manhattan, perhaps, or down town even. I could serve drinks at the front and treat patients in the office out the back."

"Two of your favourite occupations." Beckett remarked with some amusement.

"Yeah." Castle chuckled.

"Uh...um...what about your writing?"

"My writing? What about my writing?"

"Well, are you going to continue writing books?"

Castle had a successful writing career on the side before he got drafted and sent to Korea. He had published several murder mystery books that had become bestsellers. He had been half way through his latest book when he had gotten his call up papers. He had managed to finish the book during the first year here in Korea in between the lulls in the fighting. He had continued writing when the boredom had gotten too much for him, short stories mainly but he had also created characters that he would use in future books. Characters that were based on people he knew at the 4077th.

Castle looked at Beckett and saw the expectant almost hopeful look on her face. There were only a handful of people at the 4077th that knew he was a published author with several bestsellers to his name. He did not draw any attention to his writer self. It was something that he did not talk about. He was in Korea to treat wounded soldiers not to get material for future books or to meet fans.

He had spotted a couple of his books in Beckett's tent but she had made no mention about them and he certainly did not draw her attention to them either. He had always suspected that she might be a secret fan.

"Are you a fan of my books, Beckett?" He ventured. Now was as good a time as any to find out.

"Of course not." Beckett replied hurriedly, her face starting to turn red.

Castle's face brightened with amusement on seeing her sudden discomfort.

"You so are a fan." He challenged. "Aren't you?"

"I think the pain from your wound has deluded your brain, Castle."

"You're a fan of my books." Castle said in a sing-song voice. "You're a fan of my books."

"I may have read one or two of them." Beckett conceded.

"Yeah I saw them in your tent."

"Oh."

"I could autograph them for you when we get back to the 4077th?" Castle offered.

A look of indecision crossed Beckett's face as if she was considering his offer. For a moment she hovered between Kate Beckett fangirl and Kate Beckett professional nurse and army officer. The professional nurse and army officer won out.

"Let's keep moving, Castle." She said.

"Okay. But the offer stands, you know?"

"Thanks, I'll bear that in mind."

"Or if you prefer, I could autograph your chest?" Castle said in a low seductive voice.

"Castle!" Beckett stared at Castle, shocked at the suggestion.

"What?"

"Do women really ask you to sign their chests?"

Castle grinned and nodded his head up and down rapidly.

"Ugh!" Beckett shook her head as if she was trying to remove the image that had been planted in her mind.

"There was this place in Hollywood..."

"Enough." Beckett interjected in a firm tone of voice. "I don't want to hear about your sordid escapades in Hollywood."

"Okay."

"Let's keep walking."

XXX

Beckett spotted a fallen tree by the side near a bend on the road a short distance ahead. She was silently grateful at seeing it. Castle struggled with his leg and he was starting to lean on her a lot more. Being a big man he weighed a lot and she was starting to falter. A short rest would do them both a world of good.

"Let's stop over there for a few minutes." Beckett announced, pointing to the fallen tree.

Castle looked over to where Beckett was pointing to and immediately nodded his head in agreement.

It took them over a minute to cover the short distance to the fallen tree. Castle sank down on the tree and let out a long sigh. He stretched out his wounded leg. Beckett grateful not having to heft his weight, sank down on the tree beside him.

For a few minutes they just sat there in silence, each with their own thoughts.

Beckett turned and looked at Castle. "What are we going to tell Josh?" Beckett asked.

"Wha...what? What are we going to tell Josh?" Castle muttered. "About what?"

"About us. About what happened last night?"

Castle had been expecting Beckett to raise the question about what happened last night all morning. He was surprised that it had taken her until now to mention the matter. Even though he knew the question was coming, he still not was as prepared for it he imagined.

"Well, what do you usually tell him?" Castle said, offhandedly.

Beckett let out an outraged gasp and jumped to her feet then rounded on Castle. He looked up at her and saw that she looked angry, very angry.

"What do you mean, what do I usually tell him?"

Castle knew he had said the wrong thing and he knew he was about to face her wrath, and he did not know how to defend himself. He heard the sound of a branch snapping.

"Did you hear that?" Castle said.

"I asked you a question, Castle."

"Kate, there's somebody coming."

"I want to know what you meant by that crack?" Beckett was growing angrier by the second.

Castle got to his feet and looked about but could not see anyone.

"Castle!"

"Quiet." Castle hissed. He reached out and grabbed Beckett's arm. "Get behind the tree." He started to pull on her arm.

"I'm waiting for an explanation, Castle." Beckett shrugged off his arm.

The sliding of a rifle bolt quickly put paid to further argument. Both Castle and Beckett slowly turned around and found a squad of six soldiers standing before them. The squad was led by a sergeant who was standing in front of his men. There was an amused grin on his face and it matched the grins on the faces of his men.

"Oh, hi there." Castle said, breaking into a welcoming smile. He could see from the looks on the faces of the soldiers they had heard more most of the argument.

"Would you be Captain Castle and Major Beckett?" The sergeant inquired.

"Uh, that would be us, yeah." Castle replied.

"We're from the 8063rd." The sergeant informed them. "You must be glad to see us."

"Glad?" Castle laughed. "Glad?"

"Stop laughing." Beckett retorted.

"Kate, it's over."

Beckett took a step closer to Castle and got into his face.

"No, it isn't." She hissed angrily. "Not by a long shot, buster!"

XXX

Castle sat on his bunk in the Swamp. He was leafing through the pages of a six month old copy of Life Magazine. It was twenty-four hours since he and Beckett had returned from their trip to the 8063rd to demonstrate the new arterial transplant technique. The surgeons at the 8063rd were now up to speed with the new technique and more soldier's legs could now be saved.

Castle was off duty and confined to the Swamp to keep off his leg. In a couple of days he would be as good as new again. Suddenly he closed the magazine and angrily tossed it across the tent. He could not forget the frostiness that had descended between himself and Beckett after they had been rescued. In the O.R. at the 8063rd they had sniped at each other all through the surgical demonstration. They had managed to call a truce for the remainder of their visit there and now back home the frostiness had turned positively cold with Beckett ignoring him, completely. He had tried to apologise to her but she had rebuffed him. It bothered him and he did not know how to make it right.

Castle was drawn from his thoughts when the door to the tent opened and Captain Ryan and Corporal Esposito came in. Both men grinned like Cheshire cats as they looked at Castle.

"So, you going to tell us what really happened out there, Captain?" Esposito said.

"Yeah, Castle. You can tell us, we're your friends." Ryan added.

Castle looked from Esposito to Ryan. Ever since his return Castle had been plagued with questions from Ryan, Esposito and even Major Burke about what really happened out there between himself and Beckett. No matter what had happened between himself and Beckett and the current state of their relationship, he was not about to spill the beans. His response had been to deny anything happened. It was a response his comrades did not believe, hence the constant pestering.

"Nothing happened."

"Come on, Castle. You expect us to believe that?" Esposito scoffed.

"Friends tell each other things, you know that." Ryan added.

"Nothing happened." Castle repeated as he scrubbed his face with his hand.

Esposito shook his head a look of disappointment on his face. The look did not last long. It vanished as he turned and looked at Ryan.

"I hear that some times in adversity even the coldest of enemies can close ranks together." He said.

"Joining hands, as it were." Ryan added, grinning.

"Sustaining each other." Esposito finished, nodding his head.

"Come on, Castle. We want details?" Ryan urged.

Castle let out a long frustrated sigh.

"Details, huh?" He said.

"Yeah." Ryan and Esposito said in unison. "Details."

Castle made a show of looking over his shoulder beyond the mesh walls of the tent and into the compound as if he was making sure no one else was listening in. He then looked up at Ryan and Esposito and waved them closer. The two men leaned down. Castle waved them even closer until they were just inches from him.

"THERE ARE NO DETAILS!" Castle shouted as loud as he could.

Both Ryan and Esposito jumped back like scalded cats. Esposito glared down at Castle.

"I can't even look at you right now." He said. Ryan just shook his head in disappointment.

Castle silently watched as Ryan and Esposito walked out of the Swamp. Before the door closed Colonel Montgomery walked in. He walked over to the still and poured himself a drink. He turned and looked over to Castle holding up an empty glass, silently offering him a drink. Castle nodded his head. Montgomery passed Castle his drink and then sat down.

"Are you here to bother me about wanting details about what happened to us?" Castle asked before he took a big sip of his gin.

"No." Montgomery replied. "I'm here to find out if you're up to go on duty tomorrow. We're expecting casualties in the next couple of days and I'm going to need all hands."

"Yeah, I should be fine, Colonel."

Montgomery nodded his head. He took a sip of his drink. His eyebrows rose upwards in surprise. He looked at the clear liquid in the glass.

"This is not a bad batch." He remarked.

"We're using a new filter." Castle informed him. "Week old socks."

Montgomery nodded his head and took another sip. "Smoother than last week's vintage."

Castle took another big sip of his drink. He then stared down at the glass in his hand, lost in thought.

"Something on your mind, Castle?" Montgomery inquired.

Castle slowly looked up from his drink and focused his gaze on Montgomery. Colonel Montgomery was regular army with long service in uniform. His position as commanding officer of the 4077th made him a father figure to the people under his command. Castle respected the man and valued his opinion.

"I need some advice, Colonel." Castle said finally.

"Okay, I'm listening."

"Something did happen between Beckett and me."

Montgomery remained silent, nodding his head slowly in encouragement.

"We got caught in an artillery barrage and sought shelter in a hut." Castle said slowly. "We were scared and lonely."

"Understandable."

"And we...we turned to each other."

"I see."

"Only I turned away first, and I guess I've insulted her."

"And you don't know what to do about it?" Montgomery asked.

"Yeah."

Montgomery took a sip from his drink then set the glass aside and looked over to Castle.

"Talk to her." He said.

"Yeah, well, I've thought of that. Even tried." Castle replied. "Only I'm afraid, if we make up, it's liable to start all over again."

"Are you afraid of her or of you?"

Castle shot the Colonel a puzzled look.

"Why should I be afraid of me?"

"Sounds to me son, like maybe you felt something for her, and it scares you."

"I felt something for her?" Castle scoffed.

Montgomery fixed Castle with a pointed look. Castle turned away from looking at the Colonel.

"Yeah, maybe I did." Castle confessed in a low voice. He brought up the glass in his hand to his mouth and drained the contents in one gulp. He put the glass down and looked at the Colonel.

"Actually, while I was screaming and yelling at her a while ago, a part of me was remembering the other night." A small smile appeared on Castle's face as the memories of that night returned.

"So, talk to her." Montgomery urged.

Colonel Montgomery rose from the chair.

"Thanks for the drink, Castle." Montgomery said as he walked towards the door. Reaching it he paused and looked back to Castle. "Talk to her. That's my advice to you, son. I don't want my chief surgeon and head nurse not being able to play together."

"Yeah, okay." Castle nodded.

"What's the worst that can happen? You admit that she stirred something in you?"

Castle watched as the Colonel walked out of the tent. Letting out a loud sigh Castle fell back on his cot and stared up at the ceiling. He thought about what the Colonel had told him.

XXX

Castle limped across the compound. His progress was slow but at least there was little pain in his leg. The pain killers he had taken not that long ago were doing their job. He was filled with trepidation the closer he approached Beckett's tent. He had half an idea how this visit was going to turn out and wanted to turn around and limp back to the Swamp. He did not turn around though because he knew he had to at least make an effort.

Reaching the tent he raised his hand ready to knock on the door but paused. He felt nervous. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and rapped his knuckles on the door.

"Yes?" Beckett called from within her tent.

"Don't call the police." Castle replied quietly. "I just want to talk."

A moment later the door swung open and Beckett stood in the doorway looking surprised. A moment later the surprised look was gone as her face closed down. She reached out and grabbed Castle by the arm and started to pull him into her tent.

"Hurry up, don't let anyone see you." She said.

"Nobody saw." Castle did not really care if anybody saw him or not.

"You can't hang around my door like this. You want people to talk?"

Castle was about to tell her that people were already talking about them but he saw the anxious look on her face and the quip died a silent but peaceful death. Beckett released her hold on his arm and moved away from him and walked a little further into the tent before he turned and looked over to Beckett.

"Kate, I came to say sorry about, you know." Castle informed her. "And to level with you."

Beckett raised a questioning eyebrow in Castle's direction.

"Maybe we cared for each other that night a little bit more than either of us would like to admit." He said slowly. "I don't see why we can't own up to that."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Beckett shot back, looking a little defensive. "Nothing happened out there, not a thing."

Castle was stunned momentarily. He stared at her, thinking he must have misheard her. No, he had not misheard her.

"Nothing happened? Is that what you're trying to tell me?" He exclaimed.

"Not unless you took advantage of me while I was drunk." Beckett retorted angrily, glaring at him. "You took advantage of me when I was most vulnerable."

"Hey, it was a two way street, Kate. Remember?" Castle said sternly. "If I took advantage of you, you certainly took advantage of me. Several times."

"Get out!" Beckett yelled.

Castle turned and walked to the door. He put his hand on the door and was about to push it open but he paused. The anger that had flared up in the face of her attitude was quickly pushed down. He dropped his head and let out a long sigh. He really did not want to fight with her.

"Kate, back there when we were taking _advantage_ of each other, there was a part of me that wished..." Castle's voice trailed off. He shook his head. "Forget it, it doesn't matter. I'm...just sorry."

Castle pushed open the door and was about to step out.

"No, wait!" Beckett called out.

Castle paused and slowly turned around.

"Come back and sit down."

Castle regarded Beckett carefully. The anger that had blazed in her eyes was gone.

"Please?" She added.

Castle nodded his head. He closed the door and walked over to the table and to the chair Beckett had hurriedly pulled out for him. Slowly he sat down. Beckett also sat down and looked at him.

"I think we can be friends." Beckett said slowly.

"Okay." Castle nodded his head. They had reached a truce of sorts, he thought to himself.

Beckett worried her lower lip nervously as she thought about what she was going to say next. Castle waited patiently. He did not have to wait for long.

"I'm not a very open person sometimes."

Castle nodded his head slowly in understanding.

"Nothing will be different, not between you and me, or you and Josh." He said.

"Oh, I don't expect things to be the same with Josh." Beckett remarked.

Castle frowned at hearing that.

"You're not breaking up with him?" Castle said, with some concern.

Beckett shrugged her shoulders.

"All he did was accidentally send you a letter he wrote to somebody named Darleen."

Beckett shook her head.

"I'm sure the one he meant for you was just as nice." Castle insisted. Beckett scoffed and waved her hand at that remark.

Castle frowned a little more. He did not want to be catalyst for Beckett breaking up with Dr Davidson. Beckett saw the concerned look on Castle's face.

"Don't worry, Castle." Beckett said. "It's been heading that way for a little while."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Kate."

"Don't be." Beckett said. She picked up a folded sheet of paper from off the desk. "I'm sending him back a carefully worded letter."

Castle watched as Beckett unfolded the letter.

"_Dear Derrick_." Beckett paused and looked at Castle. "Do you like Derrick? Maybe I should make it 'Dirk'? Or 'Lance'?"

"'Derrick' is nice." Castle assured her, smiling. He was rather tickled that she had used the name of the main character in his books.

Beckett smiled and nodded her head. "'Derrick will make him crazy."

Castle chuckled. Beckett resumed reading the letter, glancing at Castle as she did so.

"_Dear Derrick, I'll never forget the night we spent in that abandoned hut. You gave me your warmth and comfort when I was most afraid. And now I think from time to time, when I'm afraid I may have the courage to let another person know it. You've helped me to grow a lot."_

Beckett lowered the letter and looked at Castle and smiled shyly at him.

"Thank you, Derrick."

Castle beamed back at her.

"Thank you, Darleen."

Beckett folded the letter and set it down on the table. Castle rose to his feet and Beckett also got up.

"Can I buy you a cup of coffee, Kate?" Castle asked.

"I thought you'd never ask, Castle." Beckett smiled.

XXX

Beckett and Castle walked side by side as they crossed the compound as they made their way to the mess tent. Castle noticed one or two people looking at them but he ignored their looks and turned to look at Beckett. He saw her looking about the compound with an anxious expression on her face.

"Are they staring at us?" Beckett asked from out of the corner of her mouth. "They're talking about us."

"So what if they are?" Castle replied.

Beckett looked at him with a quirked eyebrow.

"We're just two colleagues going over to the mess tent for a cup of coffee." Castle added. "Like, we've done a million times before."

"I guess you're right." Beckett conceded.

"Besides, let them talk all they want."

Beckett shot Castle a pointed look.

"Only two people really know what happened, and that's all that matters."

Beckett looked away as she considered his words. As much as she hated to admit it, Castle was right. A small part of her was worried about what people here at the 4077th were thinking or saying about their little adventure. She had seen the knowing looks directed at her when she and Castle had returned to the camp. One or two of the bolder people had even ventured to ask her about what had happened. Yet the more she thought about it, the more she realised she really did not care what people were saying or thinking. Only two people really knew what had happened, and that is what really mattered. A smile spread slowly across her face as she nodded her head.

Reaching the mess tent Castle stepped forward and opened the door for Beckett. She gave him a nod of thanks and walked into the tent and Castle followed her in.

The mess tent was starting to fill up with people now that lunchtime was approaching. Castle whispered in Beckett's ear and pointed to the table where Ryan, Esposito and Major Burke were sitting and eating. Beckett nodded her head and walked over to the table. She sat down at the farthest end of the table where there was some space. The men at the table nodded their greetings and continued eating, and made comments about the quality of the food that was served up. It would not have been lunch if there was not some remark about the quality of the food.

A minute later Castle arrived with two cups of coffee. He passed Beckett her cup and then sat down at the table beside Ryan, directly opposite Beckett.

"You not eating?" Ryan inquired.

"Not hungry." Castle replied. "I had some crackers and jam a little earlier."

Beckett had her cup of coffee half way to her mouth when she paused. She pressed her lips tightly to prevent the smile that threatened to appear on her face. She focused her eyes on the coffee not trusting herself if she looked at Castle.

Colonel Montgomery entered the mess tent and walked over to the table where his officers and company clerk were seated. He came to a stop at the head of the table. He looked at each of them a moment before he spoke.

"The Swedish MASH near Chorwon just heard about our arterial transplants." Montgomery announced.

"I don't want to hear the rest." Ryan said, setting his fork down.

"You guessed it." Montgomery grinned. "They want a demonstration."

Before the surgeons at the table had a chance to protest Montgomery raised a hand to silence them.

"I think, Castle and Beckett have done their duty." Montgomery continued. "Which leaves the two of you."

Major Burke threw down his fork angrily.

"Colonel, I refuse to run the risk of going through what the two of them went through." He intoned mournfully.

"They were bombed, wounded and hounded by the enemy." Ryan added, not looking pleased.

"And they came back bloody and limping." Esposito put in.

"Outside of one moment of glory in the operating tent, the whole trip was for them one gargantuan disaster." Burke finished.

As the others were complaining to the Colonel, Beckett had been staring down at her coffee she was holding in her hands. Slowly she lifted her gaze and looked across the table to Castle and found him smiling. Her lips curled upwards into a smile.

"What are you smiling at?" Major Burke asked, noticing Beckett's smile.

"I'm not smiling." Beckett replied, innocently.

Ryan looked at Castle and saw him smiling.

"What are you smiling at?" He said.

"This isn't smiling." Castle replied. "I'm serious."

Montgomery looked from Castle to Beckett and pursed his lips, trying to not to smile. He was pleased that his chief surgeon and head nurse had patched things up. He turned his gaze on Ryan.

"So, who is going to volunteer?" He asked. "Ryan?"

"Okay, okay. I'll do it." Ryan announced unhappily. "But when I come back, there better not be any smiling."

"Who's smiling?" Castle and Beckett said in unison, and continued to smile at each other.

XXXXX

_**There you have it, the end of this two-part story. I'd love to hear what you thought about this effort.**_

_**Con **_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Turn Of A Friendly Card

(Maverick)

XXXX

Richard Castle emerged from the dry ravine riding on a mule that had been carrying him for the best part of two days. A mule was not his usual mode of transport but the burro was a sturdy beast if not a particularly fast one. Castle was thankful that the animal had been placid and not the least bit ornery.

Removing his hat Castle ran his arm slowly across his forehead wiping away the beads of sweat that had formed there. The day had been hot with the thermometer pushing over a hundred he was sure of that. In actual fact the past couple of days had been quite hot.

Placing the hat back on his head Castle cast a look up at the sky and saw that the sun was only a few hours away from setting. Relief from the oppressive heat would be welcome but he did not fancy spending another night out in the open. He longed for a nice hot bath and clean sheets on his bed.

Climbing up the small rise on the road Castle sensed that the mule wanted to reach town as much as he did. He could not blame the animal. Cresting the rise Castle reined in the mule and focused his gaze into the distance.

A smile broke across his dust covered face as he spotted some handful of miles in the distance a line of wooden buildings. They were of various shapes and sizes. It was a town that he was familiar with having visited it on a few occasions. This was the town of Crystal River. It was his destination. There had been moments when he wondered if he would ever get here on time. At the last town some ornery varmint had stolen his horse and he was forced to seek alternative means and ended up with the mule.

Beyond the town was a ribbon of brown water that ran parallel to the town. This brown river was the Crystal River and it had given the town its name.

"We're nearly there, Arthur." Castle said to the mule.

At his urgings the mule resumed moving making its way down the dirt road that wended all the way to the town of Crystal River.

An hour later Castle and the mule entered the town. It was a town with one street and a few alleys. with plenty of dust flying about when the wind picked up above a breath. The town itself was not much to look at with most storefronts being a saloon or gambling hall. One or two offered both drinking and gambling. Amongst the saloons and gambling halls was a general store here and there. Crystal River was a town that was rated just above a one horse town but not by much.

Castle rode past the saloons and gambling halls ignoring the looks he got from some of the townsfolk who watched him ride by but he did smile and tip his hat in greeting to any woman who happened to be passing. His mother had raised him to be a gentleman.

Castle came to a halt in front of Crystal River's one and only bank. The smile he had been sporting on his dusty face faded when he saw the sign hanging on the door. The bank was closed till morning.

Castle frowned. He had been hoping that the bank would still be open by the time he got into town. He had to get to St Louis in ten days time but it seemed to him that the Universe was conspiring to delay him from his final destination. The reason he needed to get to St Louis in ten days time was because of the Poker Game of the Century that was being held there. To enter that poker game contestants needed twenty-five thousand dollars. At the moment Castle was just three thousand dollars short of the entry fee. For the past week he had been visiting people in the area who owed him money and collecting on those debts. Yet he was still three thousand short.

Casting a final look in the direction of the closed bank Castle let out a sigh and resumed down the street. Coming to the end of the street he took a right and made his way to the stables.

He came to a halt in the front of the stables and dismounted. He took a moment to beat off some of the dust hanging on his clothes and succeeded in creating a cloud of dust around him. He reached for his saddlebag and removed it from the saddle, slinging it over his shoulder. Straightening up he saw a stable boy emerge from the stables and approach him.

"How much?" Castle asked as he pointed to the mule.

"By the day? The week or month?" The stable boy asked.

"No, not how much to take care of him." Castle said. "How much to just take him. Permanently."

The stable boy frowned at the question, then scratched his his head. He turned and looked back into the stables.

"Pa. The man wants to sell the burro." The boy called out.

A moment later a tall heavy set man wearing a leather apron appeared at the stable entrance. He cast a look at the mule and started to shake his head.

"That burro's not worth a cent." The man drawled.

Castle grinned as he walked over to where the man was standing.

"You just made yourself a fine deal." Castle said as he shook the man's hand. "How about the saddle?"

The man looked over to the mule and studied the saddle that was on it. He looked at Castle.

"Five dollars."

"Five dollars? Nice doing business with you. Thank you." Castle said happily. "He doesn't eat much, and always likes to be called, Arthur."

XXX

Castle approached the front entrance of the Crystal Palace. It was one of the few buildings in the town that boasted a second floor as well as a saloon and gambling hall. The reason Castle had chosen this establishment was because it always had a room for him when ever he came to town.

He pushed open the swinging doors at the same time as a heavy set man came out of the hotel. Castle bumped into the man.

"Sorry." Castle apologised. "Didn't see where I was going."

The man Castle had bumped into was an inch or two shorter than Castle but a little wider with closely cropped greying hair and a thick moustache. He had cold greyish eyes which assessed Castle carefully.

"No problem." The man said in a thick Russian laced accent. His lips twitched into what could have been a smile but Castle could see that there warmth did not reach up to those grey eyes of his.

Castle stepped aside to let the man pass. He watched for a moment as the man walked away down the street. The Russian man had a military bearing, if Castle was not mistaken. He had probably had left the Russian army and had come to America to make his fortune in the land of the Free. A better story, Castle thought, was that the man had been cashiered out of the Russian army for some major indiscretion and had come to America to hide from his disgrace.

Forgetting about the Russian Castle entered the hotel and made his way over to the reception desk. The clerk looked up from his work and rose from the desk and approached the counter just as Castle reached it.

"You got a wire, Castle." The clerk announced as he placed a room key on the counter.

Castle watched silently as the clerk turned and rushed back to his desk where he picked up a telegram. He came shuffling back to the counter.

"You want me to read it to you?" The clerk asked.

"No." Castle said as he reached for the telegram.

"It just says, 'Watch your back.'" The clerk informed Castle. "No signature. Here."

Castle took the telegram from the clerk and glanced at it before he shoved it into the pocket of his trousers. He picked up the key that the clerk had placed on the counter and moved away from the front counter. He crossed the lobby and made his way up the stairs to the first floor where the rooms were located.

XXX

It was late afternoon bordering on early evening when Castle came down the stairs. He was now dressed in black jacket and trousers with a matching hat. He also had on his best white lace shirt. The ensemble was topped off with a black Bolo tie. Castle was sporting a bright sunny smile. The long hot bath had managed to remove the three days dust he had accumulated and the the few hours sleep afterwards had managed to refresh him.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs in the lobby of the hotel Castle turned to his right and made his way to the entrance to the hotel bar. He came to a halt in the door way and peered in. The bar was doing a brisk business with a number of townsfolk sitting at tables having drinks. It seemed like just a normal evening here at the Crystal Palace, Castle noted.

The smile on Castle's face deepened when his gaze fell on one of the larger tables in the bar. What made him smile was at this particular table there were half a dozen people sitting there, playing poker. Now this was his kind of crowd, Castle thought to himself. He left the doorway and entered the bar, slowly making his way to the table.

As he approached the table he took a moment to assess the card players. The town's preacher, the Reverend Daniel Miller was seated at the table. The man was grey haired, aged in his mid to late fifties, and of average height. Being a preacher in a one horse town was not the quickest of ways to riches much less earn a living, but the Reverend Miller supplemented his meagre stipend by playing poker. Castle had played a few games with the good preacher in the past and had found that the man's enthusiasm for the game was not matched with any skills. The man could hold his own in a friendly game but was easily fleeced if he found himself in a serious game.

Beside the good Reverend was the owner of one of the town's general stores. He was a stout looking man with thinning brown hair that was starting show signs of grey and went by the name of Hal Ross. Born and raised in the East he had given up his life as a butcher to try his luck owning and running a general store in the west. He liked to spend some of his profits from the general store playing cards. Castle had never played poker with the man but had seen him play and did not consider him too much of a serious player. Just an enthusiastic amateur. More often than not Ross left most of his store's profits at the table.

To Hal Ross' was an old cattle hand. He would have been aged well into his sixties and his wizened,weather beaten face was covered in a forest of grey scraggly hair. The beard, as well as his clothes were still covered in dust from a recent long cattle drive that might only have ended earlier in the day. The man seemed eager to spend his earnings at the poker table.

To the old cattle hand's right was the man Castle had bumped into out the front of the hotel earlier in the day, the ex-Russian officer. The man had changed out of his day clothes and was now dressed in a dark coloured three piece suit with a black hat and a gold fob watch chain topping off the sartorial ensemble. The Russian was pretty good at poker if the small fortune that he had in front of him was anything to go by.

Beside the Russian was a young man, tall and thin. Castle pegged him to be around eighteen years old and maybe just a tad older. The Kid was dressed in a blue denim shirt and matching trousers. Over the shirt he wore a brown leather vest that had seen too much of the dusty trails. As Castle neared the table he noted two other things about the Kid. One, there was a near permanent smirk on his face and two, he was wearing a six gun on his right hip.

Castle's eyes settled on the final member at the table. His eyebrows rose slightly upwards at finding a woman sitting at the table. It was not surprising that a woman was at the table. In many a gambling hall both near and far women provided pretty decoration to an otherwise all male domain. It was rare to find a woman playing poker and rarer still to find her playing poker in a place like the Crystal Palace.

The woman, a brunette was elegantly dressed with an easy smile on her face, and soft curls in her hair that fell over her bare shoulders. If Castle had to guess he would have said that the woman was aged somewhere in her late twenties or maybe early thirties. Yet being the gentleman that he was he would not dare to suggest what her age was. Overall he found her very appealing to the eye. He was drawn to that smile of hers.

There was an empty chair beside the woman and Castle came to a halt behind the chair. The woman was the first to look up at Castle. He looked into those intelligent hazel eyes and realised that he could easily lose himself in those beautiful orbs. The smile she graced him was almost enough to make his knees turn rubbery.

"Is this chair taken?" Castle asked, recovering and pointing to the chair.

"It is now." The woman replied, smiling even more at him.

Castle nodded his thanks and pulled out the chair ready to sit down.

"My name is Kate Beckett. And what do people call you?" Kate said.

"They call me many names, ma'am" Castle quipped as he settled down. He gave her his most winning smile. "Some of them are unkind. But it's Rick Castle."

"Pleasure to meet you Mr Castle." Kate said, giving him another smile.

"Likewise, Mrs..."

"It's Miss actually." Kate corrected him.

Castle nodded his head in acknowledgement before he looked around the table and gave each of the card players a smile of greeting. Reverend Miller and Hal Ross returned the greetings. Castle saw that the Russian was scowling at him not pleased at having a new player sit down at the table. He glared angrily at Castle.

"I like the game the way it is." He rumbled.

"Oh, Sasha don't be like that." Kate drawled in a Southern accent and then giggled.

"I bring all kinds of pluses to the table." Castle informed the Russian named Sasha. "You see, I hardly ever bluff and I never cheat."

Sasha stared angrily at Castle for a couple of tense moments.

" I don't believe it." He said finally.

"Neither do I." Castle grinned.

"I like the game just the way it is."

"Bet I can change your mind?" Castle offered. "I promise to lose for at least an hour."

Sasha slowly looked around the table to the other card players as if he was seeking their opinions. Hal Ross, the store owner said he had no objections and Reverend Miller said he welcomed a new player and his money. The old cattle hand muttered something in the affirmative. The Kid barely shrugged his shoulders indicating that he did not care one way or the other. Sasha's eyes returned to Castle.

"We play five card draw." He announced.

"One of my favourite games." Castle said happily as he clapped his hands together and rubbed them.

The first hand Castle played he lost to Sasha and it brought a smile to the Russian's face as he collected the money from the middle of the table. The next hand he also lost to the Russian, having thrown away three jacks. The following three hands he lost to Reverend Miller, the cattle hand and Hal Ross respectively.

Half an hour later Castle found himself a good hand and he debated whether to fold or continue on.

"Raise twenty." The cattle hand announced and tossed a couple of chips into the middle of the table.

"Call." Sasha muttered.

Castle watched as the Russian tossed his money into the pot and it was followed by another twenty from the Kid. He then looked at Kate. Kate carefully lifted up the edges of her cards and took a look at them. Setting them down flat on the table she pondered on what to do.

"Make it a hundred." Kate announced after a moment.

"A hundred!" The Kid exclaimed.

"This is where the big boys play." Kate retorted.

"And the big girls too." Castle added.

Kate glanced at him and saw the grin on his face. She returned the smile and bowed her head slightly.

The Kid picked up his cards, looked at them before he threw them away. Hal Ross and Reverend Miller also discarded their cards. Sasha threw in his one hundred dollars into the middle of the table. The cattle hand studied the cards in his hands for about half a minute.

"This is slop." He announced as he folded.

"What about you, Mr Castle?" Kate asked. "Not scared of a little action, are you?"

Castle glanced at Kate amused at her challenge.

"'Action' is my middle name, I'll have you know." Castle informed her.

Castle picked five twenty dollar chips and tossed them into the middle of the table. He looked at Kate and gave her a smug smile.

"Anybody want cards?" Reverend Miller asked as he picked up the deck and looked at the remaining players.

"I'll take two." Sasha announced, discarding two cards from his hand.

"Two for me as well, please Reverend." Kate said.

"Two thanks." Castle informed the Reverend.

Reverend Miller dealt out the cards and then set the deck down on the table. Castle picked up the two fresh cards and looked at them. He had been given a pair of fives to go with the trio of threes he was already holding. He glanced across to Kate watching her reaction and just caught the slight twitch in the corner of her mouth as she looked at her cards. A confident expression appeared in the blink of an eye.

"One hundred and fifty." She declared as she reached for her chips, tossing the amount into the pot.

"Ugh...I'm out." Sasha muttered angrily as he threw out his cards.

Castle looked at the cards in his hand. A stone faced expression had settled on his face. His finger slowly tapped the top of the cards as he thought about what he was going to do.

"Well, Mr Castle?" Kate prompted.

Castle slowly looked up from his cards regarded Kate. He saw a glint in those hazel eyes of hers. He looked at his cards again. Something told him that she was bluffing and he hated to throw away a full house. Reaching a decision he lifted his gaze from the cards and over to Kate. He shook his head slowly and set the cards face down on the table.

"Bless me." Kate chortled happily.

Castle watched with amusement as Kate gathered up her winnings. He did not seem to mind losing to Kate.

"So, where are you from Mr Castle?" Kate inquired, as they waited for Hal Ross to shuffle the cards.

"Oh, here and there." Castle replied nonchalantly.

For the next hour and a half Castle kept his promise by losing far more than he won. All the while he kept up a steady conversation with some of the cards players at the table. He also flirted with Kate and to his delight that she could give as good as she received. The only two at the table who were not in a talkative mood was Sasha and the Kid. It had not escaped his notice that the only time Sasha smiled was when he was winning.

The Kidd did not care much to talk with Castle as he was more interested in talking with Kate. Castle could not help but notice that the Kid was less than subtle with what he wanted to do with Kate. Castle's hackles rose every time the Kid made such a remark and he wanted nothing more than to reach across the table and smack some manners into him. He managed to hold doing such a thing because he found that Kate was more than capable handling the Kid with some amusing putdowns.

Castle glanced up at the clock on the wall and saw the time.

"Two hundred."

Castle looked from the clock across the table to the Kid. There was another thing Castle would have loved to do and that was to smack that arrogant smirk off the youngster's face. Perhaps, given the chance he could do two things at once, while smacking some manners into him he could smack that arrogant expression off his face. Something to think about.

"You in or out, Castle." The Kid said. "It's two hundred dollars."

Castle turned his attention to his cards. He picked them up off the table and studied them carefully. There was only him and the Kid remaining in the game. Giving the cards a final look he set the cards face down on the table. He picked up a stack of chips and lazily tossed them into the middle of the table.

"Call." Castle announced.

The Kid continued to wear a very smug look on his face as he slowly turned over his cards to reveal his hand.

"Two pair, Aces over Queens." Castle remarked, looking suitably impressed.

"Impressive." Kate said agreed.

"Aint that the truth." The Kid chuckled as he started to rise from his chair. "You and me can have a right royal time."

"Hang on a sec, lover boy." Castle called out.

The Kid paused half out of his chair. He looked at Castle. Every eye at the table watched as Castle slowly turned over his cards to reveal three sixes. There was a gasp of surprise from the cowhand, and an amused shake of the head from Reverend Miller. The Kid slumped back in his chair looking stunned at having lost what was a considerable pot of money.

With a cheeky grin on his face Castle reached over and started to pull his winnings towards him.

"I...don't think..." The Kid muttered.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Castle said.

"I said I don't think that hand should count." The Kid said, a little louder.

"You got any logical reasons going for you?"

"My mind wasn't on the game." The Kid answered.

Castle paused in bringing the winning pot towards him. He looked over to the Kid and studied him carefully. He saw the coldness in the Kid's eyes. A look of hesitation crossed Castle's face.

"What's your name, son?"

"Brandon."

"You got a second name to go with Brandon?"

"Don't need one."

Castle nodded his head.

"So what do you do for a living, Brandon?" Castle asked.

"Oh, mostly I kill people. I'm a gunfighter."

"Since you're still alive, I have to assume you're good at it, then?"

A smug, cocky grin appeared on Brandon's face as he looked at Castle.

"Care to find out?" He challenged.

Castle pondered the question a moment before he answered.

"This hand definitely does not count." Castle said. He nodded to the chips. "Take whatever you thinks yours. I'll be content with the leavings."

The smug grin on Brandon's face deepened as he rose from his chair and reached for the chips. From out of the corner of his eye, Castle saw the look of disappointment cross Kate's face. It was obvious she had not expected him to back down so quickly to the Kid's threat.

"You always been gutless?" Sasha asked, looking with contempt at Castle.

"I think so." Castle nodded, as he sat down in his chair. "At least for as long as I can remember. My pappy always said, 'he who fights and runs away, can run away another day.'"

Sasha snorted derisively and shook his head. What he had thought about Castle, his opinion had sunk even lower at his display of cowardice.

Suddenly Castle jumped to his feet.

"Here's the truth." Castle said. "I don't see what's so great about being brave."

As he spoke Castle pulled back his jacket to reveal his gun holstered on his hip. Brandon stopped collecting the chips from the table and in the next moment his right hand began to inch towards his own gun.

"I don't think this is a nice place." Kate remarked to no one in particular.

Castle could feel everyone's eyes on him as he stared at Brandon.

"See, you're a gunfighter and I'm not. I like to play cards." Castle said in a casual tone of voice, his eyes never leaving Brandon. "So, the fact is, if I faced you down, what chance would I have? Answer? Zero."

In the blink of an eye Castle drew his gun. It was so fast that it left Brandon looking stunned. It left the others seated at the table looking stunned as well.

"I'd have no chance whatsoever." Castle remarked, as he twirled the gun like an expert back into its holster.

Kate was the first to move and she leaned towards a still stunned looking Brandon.

"Was that fast?" Kate asked. Brandon nodded dumbly.

"Yeah, I thought it was fast." She added.

Castle slowly sat back down.

"May I suggest that from now on you keep your mind on the game?" Castle said.

"Y...y...yes sir."

Kate reached out and gathered up the chips and pushed them over to Castle. Castle tipped his hat in gratitude.

"My deal is it?" Castle asked the table as he gathered up the cards.

Sasha looked at Castle not remotely afraid of him. He watched as Castle gathered up all the cards and started shuffling them.

"You say you like to play cards?"

"Passionately." Castle grinned.

"How come, when you lose all the time?"

"Oh, I don't lose all the time." Castle informed him. "Just the first hour or so. I like for people to be happy."

"What happens after that?"

"Probably, I'll win all your money."

"Aren't you a little overconfident?"

"No. I've just been here before."

Castle finished shuffling the cards and quickly started dealing them out once money had been thrown into the middle of the table. For the next hour this time Castle won far more than he lost.

Sasha was trying to contain his anger but it was a task that he was rapidly losing. His anger grew when kept losing to Castle, and rather large pots at that. He get even angrier on those occasions when lost to Castle on a bluff.

Slowly as the game progressed one after the other players dropped out. The good reverend was the first to drop out of the game. The cow hand was next after he had lost all of his earnings from the cattle drive. Hal Ross was not far behind. About ten minutes later Brandon lost all his money to Castle and with no one willing to loan him money was forced to drop out. Kate wisely stopped playing while she still had some money, Castle noted. It left only Castle and Sasha remaining in the game.

"I see your one hundred and raise you another two." Castle announced. He picked up the chips and tossed them into the middle of the table.

Castle looked across the table to Sasha and waited for him. He could tell that the Russian was itching to make the bet but his eyes betrayed his feelings. Castle could see that as much as he wanted to to bet he did not think he had a strong enough hand to back the bet.

As he waited for Sasha to decide what to do Castle glanced at Kate and found her smiling at him. He really did like her smile. He returned the smile and tugged on the brim of his hat. In the past couple of hours he had found that he liked Kate a lot.

Suddenly Sasha let out and exasperated sigh.

"I'm out." He announced and threw down his cards.

Castle grinned at Kate before he reached over and collected his winnings. There was close to five hundred dollars in the pot for this hand if he was not mistaken.

Sasha reached over and grabbed Castle's cards. He turned them over and was stunned to find that Castle had been holding three fives. A moment later his face started to turn red as he realised that he had thrown out three jacks, thinking he did not have a strong enough hand to win. Castle had bluffed him out of a lot money. Dropping the offending cards as if they were hot coals Sasha roared as he jumped to his feet.

"You said you never bluffed!" Sasha shouted.

Castle continued to collect his winnings for a couple of moments before he looked up at the angry Russian.

"No, I said I never cheated, and I don't." Castle informed him. "I also said I hardly ever bluffed." Castle allowed a small grin to appear on his face. "This is one of the 'hardlys'."

"You cheated the whole goddam game!" Sasha accused.

The smile faded from Castle's face. He stopped gathering his winnings.

"What do you think I was doing that first hour?" Castle said. "Learning your 'tells', that's all. Once I could read your hands, once I could read your face...things just kind of worked out."

"I just called you a cheat."

"You also called me gutless. I figured you were teasing."

With a loud growl Sasha reached across the table to grab Castle. It was at that moment that three unshaven dusty looking men burst into the bar from the street-side entrance. The leader of the men was a tall black man with a neatly trimmed moustache and he had his gun drawn. The other two men fanned out behind their leader. They were not as tall as their leader but looked just as angry.

The leader seeing that Sasha was about to grab Castle pointed his gun at the Russian.

"Get away from him, we get him first."

Sasha stared at the man for a moment before he slowly withdrew his arm and quietly stepped back.

A worried look appeared on Castle's face. His eyes quickly scanned the room looking for a way to escape these three angry looking men. He then turned his gaze to the leader of the men and broke into a friendly smile.

"Hey, Roy." Castle called out, in a friendly tone. "Long time no see."

"I spotted you through the window and it made me believe in The Almighty." Roy Montgomery replied.

"Aw come on, Roy, don't be like that." Castle said. "You fellas were drinking, you played bad. Whose fault is that?"

"Yours, bastard." Roy shouted back. "Everything is your fault."

"You wound me, Roy. You really do."

"But it's our time now."

Roy Montgomery glanced either side of him to the two men there and nodded his head. Immediately all three men slowly began to advance towards the table where Castle was standing.

Castle looked to the young Irishman standing to Montgomery's left.

"Ryan, come on."

"I'm gonna enjoy dancing a jig on your chest, boyo." The Irishman named Ryan sneered.

"Esposito, please." Castle said, turning his attention to the Latino standing to Montgomery's right.

The man named Esposito did not speak just stared angrily.

XXX

Anybody who watched the scene could tell that the men advancing on Castle meant business. They meant to do Castle a world of hurt. Castle looked like he knew it too. Once more he looked around the bar before he turned his gaze on the men coming towards him. Suddenly he vaulted over the card table and made a dash for the door that led into the lobby of the hotel. The advancing me stopped, surprised by Castle's action.

"After him." Montgomery shouted, waving his gun in the direction where Castle had run.

Ryan and Esposito recovered immediately and made for the door that Castle had disappeared through. Montgomery was right behind them. All three men barrelled out of the hotel and into the street.

Kate rose from the table and rushed to the front porch of the hotel. In the short time she had spent with Castle she had come to like the man but it had been some time since she had seen a man get a good whooping and she wanted to get a front row seat at what was about to unfold. Sasha came to stand beside her on the porch. There was an eager expression on his face as if he too wanted to see Castle get a whooping.

"This should be fun, don't you think?" Kate remarked, amusement dancing in her eyes.

"Yes." Sasha agreed.

Castle had run half way down the street before he came to a sudden skidding stop. He turned and faced the approaching men. Montgomery and his men came a halt a short distance from where Castle was standing.

The commotion in the Crystal Palace had emptied the hotel and many a spectator had spilled out of other buildings along the street eager to watch the unexpected entertainment. Castle took a moment to look about him and was more than a little impressed at the number of people who had gathered to watch in so short a time. His eyes fell on a small boy who was standing not too far away. He motioned to the boy.

"Hey, son." Castle called out. "Come here."

The boy who would not have been older than twelve years old hesitantly approached Castle.

"Take this." Castle announced as he undid his gun belt. "If they get to whooping me, just shoot me."

The boy was too startled to say anything but accepted the gun belt.

"Take care of these as well, and make sure they don't get dirty." Castle added as he passed over his jacket and then hit hat.

"Sure, mister." The boy responded finally.

The boy laden with Castle's gun belt, hat and jacket scurried off the street. Castle watched with amusement as the boy returned to his spot amongst the crowd, and then slowly he turned and faced three men.

A puzzled look settled on Montgomery's face. The expression was mirrored on the faces of Ryan and Esposito. They looked to him for direction. After some uncertainty Montgomery let out a sigh and unbuckled his gun belt, letting it fall to the ground.

"You got to be kidding, boss." Esposito hissed.

"Yeah." Ryan added.

"Just do it." Montgomery responded in a stern tone, his eyes never leaving Castle.

Ryan and Esposito looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders before they loosened their gun belts and let their weapons fall to the ground. Montgomery cast a look at his men, making sure they had removed their guns. Satisfied that his order had been carried out he turned and looked over to Castle. A moment later he nodded his head and took a step forward.

Castle assumed a boxer's stance, crouching a little, as if he was waiting for the men to reach him. To the surprise of everyone watching, including Montgomery and his two men, Castle, instead of waiting for Montgomery and his men to reach him suddenly started to run, charging at them.

"You gambling scum. I'm gonna hurt you good." Montgomery shouted.

Beckett stared wide-eyed not quite believing what she was witnessing. If Castle had been fast when he had drawn his gun on Brandon, he was even faster now as he charged the three men. He seemed fearless, reckless. Fearless, reckless and stupid. Glancing to the Russian standing beside her she saw that he was entranced with what he was watching. Beckett shook her head slightly before turning her gaze to the street.

Castle rushed up to Montgomery and gave him a hard shoulder charge that sent the tall black spinning away. Moving onwards Castle confront Ryan landing a blow to the Irishman's gut. Ryan let out a wheeze of air as he doubled over in pain. His knees turned wobbly from the impact of the blow. A moment later he dropped to the ground.

Esposito saw his friend go down and he now looked even angrier than he had before. He raised his fists and swung viciously just as Castle turned to confront him. Castle saw the oncoming fist and quickly ducked it. Coming up Castle threw a right fist which connected to the side of Esposito's jaw that sent him staggering back.

"He seems to be handling himself rather well." Kate remarked to Sasha, sounding impressed. Sasha nodded his head slowly.

Castle suddenly spun around and found Montgomery standing before him. He was not quite quick enough to dodge the punch that Montgomery threw. The blow landed on the side of Castle's jaw. The impact startled Castle and he took a couple of steps backwards. He recovered quickly enough and was about to throw a punch when he felt his arm seized from behind. A quick look over his shoulder and he was surprised to see Ryan had recovered from his blow and was now holding his arm. Before he had a chance to do anything, Ryan's other arm snaked around Castle's throat. A now grinning Montgomery stepped towards Castle.

Castle tried to break free from the hold but Ryan held on like grim death. Montgomery threw a punch and struck Castle in the stomach. Castle wheezed as he bent over. He dropped his right shoulder and using the momentum was able to lift a now surprised looking Ryan up and over. Ryan landed hard on the ground and rolled into Montgomery, toppling him over.

Castle did not waste time lording his little victory because he spun around just as Esposito threw a punch at him. The fist connected to Castle's jaw but Castle countered with a couple of jabs to Esposito's stomach which he had left unprotected. Esposito staggered backwards. Castle advanced menacingly ready to punch the man again but Esposito had had enough. He turned and started running away.

Castle rounded on the other two assailants ready to continue the fight with them but Montgomery was half helping, half dragging Ryan to his feet and both were rapidly moving away from Castle. When they had gone a safe distance they both turned and started running.

An amused grin settled on Castle's face as struggled to catch his breath. He did not respond to the claps from the assembled audience. Instead he slowly walked to where the boy was standing with his gun and jacket. The boy held out the clothes. Castle took the jacket and put it on and then the hat and last of all he took back his gunbelt which he strapped on.

A couple of minutes later Castle strolled back in the lobby of the Crystal Palace, still trying to catch his breath but wearing an expression on his face like all was well with the world. Kate Beckett came rushing out of the bar and up to Castle.

"That was amazing." Kate gushed.

"Sometimes you get lucky is all." Castle shrugged.

As he started to make his way to the bar Castle cast a glance at the mirror hanging on the wall. After taking another step he stopped dead and stepped back. He moved a little closer to the mirror so that he could inspect his reflection. What he saw made him frown deeply. He shook his head, not liking what he saw. Letting out a loud unhappy sigh he continued walking and entered the bar, making his way back to the table where he had been playing cards. Kate followed him.

Reaching the table Castle stopped and looked at the other card players.

"All right, my shirt's damaged, what the hell else bad can happen?" Castle said. His gaze finally came to a halt on Sasha and he pointed to the man. "You were saying something?"

"No. Nothing, nothing...wasn't important." Sasha replied hurriedly as he shook his head.

"Didn't you call him a gutless coward?" Kate offered helpfully. "I'm pretty sure that was it."

Castle saw the mischievous glint in her eye.

"Never said such a thing." Sasha said quickly. Beads of sweat were breaking across his forehead when he saw Castle staring at him. "Gutless cheat, yes...b...but I...I would never call a man a coward."

Castle nodded his head slowly.

"And I was teasing." Sasha added hopefully.

Castle regarded the Russian for a couple of moments. Suddenly he broke into a smile.

"Let's play poker, then." He announced.

Sasha could have toppled over with relief. For a moment or two he had been sure that Castle was going to do to him what he had done to the three men who had stormed the bar looking for him. He quickly sat down at the table.

As the other card players resumed their seats Castle pulled out Kate's chair and helped her to sit down, earning him a grateful smile.

XXX

It was after midnight or thereabouts when Castle returned to his room. Closing the door he reached over to the side table and lit the two oil lamps sitting there. In a couple of moments the room was bathed in a warm yellowish glow. Castle had a smile on his face. He was feeling very pleased with himself as he dug into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out his wallet which contained a large wad of money. He was a little surprised at how much he had won tonight.

He unfolded the wad of money and began to count his winnings. The smile on his face deepened when he realised that he had won close to a thousand dollars. He had done better than pretty good tonight at the table, he thought to himself.

A knock at the door stopped him from his counting. He folded the money and returned it to his wallet and then shoved it into the pocket of his jacket.

"Who is it?" Castle called out.

"Kate Beckett."

Castle moved to the door and quickly opened it. Kate stood in the doorway looking as stunning as ever. She smiled nervously as she looked up at him.

"I...I...shouldn't be doing this." Kate said nervously.

"You're standing in the hallway, Kate." Castle grinned. "That's still legal in this state, last time I checked."

Kate stepped into Castle's room and closing the door behind her. She stepped up to Castle and threw herself into his arms. She kissed him passionately for several moments before she pulled back. Castle left stunned. He stared at Kate.

"I couldn't help myself." Kate said breathlessly.

"I...I...kind of noticed."

"My very being cried out for me to hold you and kiss you."

"Feel free to stop by any time." Castle quipped, recovering quickly.

"As likely we'll never see each other again so it's safe for me to tell you...you're the most blindingly attractive man I've ever seen."

"Yeah, I like to think I'm ruggedly handsome." Castle agreed.

Kate stepped up to Castle and brushed her cheek against his.

"And now...good-bye." Kate whispered in a breathy tone.

She turned and took a step towards the door. Castle grinned as he reached out and took hold of her hand, stopping her.

"Kate...?" He said huskily.

Kate was drawn back to Castle. He placed a hand on her hip as he leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Kate...how can I go on without my wallet?" He whispered.

Kate's eyebrows rose up in surprise. She opened her mouth to say something but Castle beat her to it.

"If you don't give me back my money, I'll have your pretty little ass thrown into jail. Hand it over."

Kate stepped back from Castle, looking shocked and more than a little hurt that he would accuse her of something monstrous like that. Castle snapped his fingers. Kate's face hardened as she realised that she was not going to get away with it.

"Damn." She muttered as she produced the wallet and slapped it into Castle's palm.

Castle glanced at the wallet before he put it into the pocket of his jacket.

"Don't get mad at me." Castle said. "I can't help it if you're a miserable thief."

"I'm a good thief, Castle." Kate said defensively.

"Really?"

"I'm just having a bad run of luck, is all."

"I know about those." Castle nodded his head. "Where you from? Your accent could use a little work."

From the moment Castle had sat down at the card table downstairs he knew that Kate's southern accent was not real. It had him intrigued.

"Most men enjoy my southern accent, Mr Castle." Kate replied primly.

"Too dazzled by your beauty to notice."

"You seemed to notice." Kate said, dropping her accent.

"I can multi-skill."

"You're a rare bird indeed."

Castle chuckled at Kate's last remark.

"So, where you from?" Castle said. "No...no, let me guess."

Kate rolled her eyes and waved her hand motioning him to continue.

Castle grinned a little more as he rubbed his hands together.

"Well, your not a southern belle, that's for sure." Castle started.

Kate narrowed her eyes at him.

"There's no trace of the northern states, nor California either." Castle continued. " There's no trace of the Mason-Dixon line which, indicates to me that you're from a little further north. Not too far north, that you'd have a distinct New England accent...I'd say you're from New York and more to the point, New York City."

Kate's eyebrows twitched upwards a little as she stared back at Castle. She was surprised that he had been able to pick point her home town so accurately. Quickly she recovered from her surprise.

"That's a neat trick."

"It's just one of my many talents." Castle said and then waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"What happens now?" Kate asked. "Are you going to turn me in?"

Castle shrugged his shoulders.

"I should, I'm a law abiding citizen."

Kate shot him a pointed look.

"What the hell." Castle continued quickly. "I got my money back. Let's call it square."

"You're letting me go?" Kate said, sounding a little surprised.

"I'm just having mercy on the sheriff, is all."

Kate nodded her head and then turned and walked to the door. On reaching it she opened it and was about to step out when she slammed it closed.

"Damn." She muttered as he turned around.

"What?" Castle asked, looking a little puzzled.

"You...you irritate me." Kate retorted. "You're just so..."

Kate's voice trailed off as she struggled to find the right word.

"Ruggedly handsome?" Castle offered helpfully.

"Likeable."

"I'll try and work on that." Castle shrugged.

"There you go doing it again."

"What?"

"Being likeable." Kate said. "You know what I think?"

Castle shook his head.

"If we'd met under different circumstances, we'd have just hated each other."

"Oh, I don't know..."

"There isn't a Mrs Castle, is there?" She asked.

"There were."

Kate's eyebrows rose upwards a little.

"_Were?_" Kate questioned. "You mean there was more than one Mrs Castle?"

Castle nodded his head slowly. "Two."

"You were married twice?"

"Yeah." Castle shrugged his shoulders. "It seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

As much as she would have liked to continue to question Castle, Kate knew it was time to go. She stepped up to him.

"I wish we'd never met." She told him as they embraced. She planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Good-bye, Castle." She whispered.

"Good-bye, Kate."

Kate broke from the embrace and strode to the door. She opened it and quickly walked away.

Once the door closed Castle turned around. He could not help the big smile on his face. That Kate Beckett was a very interesting woman, he thought to himself. He started to walk to the bed and his hand automatically reached into his pocket for his wallet. The smile on his face vanished instantly. His hand was groping nothing. His wallet was gone. Again.

"Son of a bitch." he laughed.

Still laughing Castle turned on his heels and headed for the door.

XXX

Kate had rushed back to her room and hurriedly finished her packing. She knew that she had very little time before Castle realised that he was missing his wallet. Closing her suit case, she locked it and then picked up and quickly moved to the window that led onto the balcony. There was no way she would go down the stairs down to the lobby. There would still be people about even at this late hour. She had to make her escape as quickly and as quietly as she could. Making her escape via the balcony was the best way.

She pushed open the window and stepped out onto the balcony. Reaching back into the window she picked up her suitcase. She was about to head for the fire escape when she was startled by a male voice.

"Can I be of help?" Castle asked solicitously.

Kate turned around and found Castle leaning against the wall beside the window she had come out of, an amused grin plastered on his face. Out of instinct she slapped him.

"Ow." Castle exclaimed. "Why'd you do that for?"

"Sorry, you startled me."

Castle looked at her, waiting silently. Kate rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. A moment later she produced Castle's wallet and held it out to him.

"You've got to admit, I was better the second time." Kate said.

"Not just better, good." Castle replied as he shoved his wallet into his pocket. "No, not just good...very good."

"Thank you." Kate smiled.

Castle eased himself off the wall and focused his eyes on Kate. A predatory smile spread across his face. He motioned her back into the room. Kate regarded him carefully for a moment before she reluctantly popped back into the room. Castle followed her in. Kate put her suitcase down and turned to look at Castle.

"Now it's time for you to do something I want." He said. He spoke in a low seductive tone.

Slowly he crept forward until he was standing in front of her. Kate stared at him like a rabbit caught in a bright light. Castle bent his head until his lips were just inches from her ear. Kate held her breath expectantly. His breath was like a warm caress against her neck. Despite herself her heart fluttered.

"And you know exactly what I want, don't you?" His voice dripped with honey. "You know what I really, really want you to do..."

Kate did not know how she did it but she summoned enough will power that broke the spell Castle had been weaving with his closeness to her and the sound of his voice. She silently damned the man for how easily she almost fell under that spell.

"Don't you dare!" Kate warned as she pushed Castle away from her. She pointed an angry finger in Castle's direction. "I'm a lady. Not in a million years."

"Kate..."

"Not if I was one hundred!"

"Kate."

"Not if you were one hundred!"

"Kate, enough!" Castle cut in. "I don't want to go to bed with you."

Kate stopped in mid rage. She turned to look at Castle and she placed her hands on her hips.

"Why not?" She demanded.

"Why not?" Castle repeated.

Kate nodded her head. "Yeah, why not?"

Castle thought for a moment.

"Well, for starters, I'd be too frightened...What if I dozed off?" Castle informed her. "God knows what parts of me you'd steal. I'd wake up with things missing."

Kate blinked in surprise.

"And I'm rather fond of most of my parts, I'm quite attached to them."

Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Castle took a step closer to Kate and then paused. He tugged at his frilly white shirt which was dusty and dirty after the fight in the street.

"I can't clean this, and obviously you must know how to. The laundry is closed and I'm leaving early, and you do owe me."

Kate's mouth dropped open as if she did not quite believe what he was asking her to do.

"You want me to wash your shirt?" She ventured carefully.

"That's right." Castle nodded.

"Oh, okay."

"Great."

Castle removed his jacket and placed it on the bed. Then he undid the three buttons of the shirt. Kate watched with an avid smile on her face as Castle slowly pulled off his shirt. He held it out to Kate. She walked up and snatched the shirt from his hand.

"Just go easy on the starch, okay?" Castle added.

Kate nodded her head and then tossed the soiled shirt onto the bed.

Kate tried not to stare at Castle in his undershirt but found it hard to drag her eyes away. She picked up his jacket and held it open for him. Castle looked at her a moment before he turned and shoved his arms through the sleeves of the jacket. Kate ran her hands over his shoulders, brushing away unseen tufts of lint.

Castle nodded his thanks and started to walk to the door. He had taken a couple of steps before he paused, turned around and held out his hand. Kate smiled sweetly as she handed his wallet back.

"Goodnight, Kate." Castle said as he reached the door and opened it.

"Night, Ron." Kate shot back.

Castle paused but did not turn around. He hated being called Ron. He hated being called Rob, he hated it when people got his name wrong.

"Rick." Castle corrected promptly. "It's Rick Castle."

The last thing Castle heard as he walked down the hallway back to his room was Kate's lilting laughter and immediately realised that she had been playing with him. The smile returned to his face a moment later. Kate Beckett was more than an interesting woman.

XXX

The following morning around nine o'clock a smiling Richard Castle came down the stairs with a bounce in his step. He gave the desk clerk a friendly wave as he headed out into the street. Castle paused out the front of the Crystal Palace and looked to his left and then to his right, taking in the scene of the main street of Crystal River.

The town was quickly coming to life for another day, a couple of wagons came lumbering along the street drawn by weary looking draught horses. Another wagon was out the front of Hal Ross' general store where bags of wheat were being unloaded and carried into the general store under Ross' supervision.

Castle started walking down the street in the direction of where the bank was located. He smiled and tugged the brim of his hat in greeting to a couple of women he passed along the way. A minute later Castle reached the bank. He was pleased to see that it was open.

Entering the bank Castle found it quiet. There were a couple of men at the front counter being attended to. Behind them was a couple waiting to be served. Rather than wait in the single line Castle made his way over to where an elderly man was seated at a desk making entries into a large leather bound ledger book.

"May I help you, sir?"

"The boss in?" Castle asked him.

The clerk nodded his head. With a low sigh the man put down his pen and slowly rose to his feet and motioned Castle to follow him. The two men walked to the back.

The clerk came to a halt in front of a door marked: Bank President Robert Mann. Castle nodded his thanks to the clerk and waited until the man had walked away. He then drew his gun and burst through the door.

Robert Mann a distinguished looking man of average height, dressed immaculately in a three piece grey suit, was seated behind a large oak desk. He stared in disbelief at the man holding a gun at him. Castle grinned and motioned with his gun and Mann rose slowly from his chair, his hands going up in the air.

"Oh no, please do not hurt me." Mann said in a breathless high pitched tone of voice of a damsel in distress. "I'm just a frail flower, please have mercy..."

Mann stopped speaking when he saw his clerk poke his head through the open door.

"Robbery." The clerk said, shocked.

"No, no, it's not a robbery." Mann said, speaking in his proper voice as he walked up to the door, annoyed at the interruption. "It's just Rick Castle, coming to say hello."

"Oh." The clerk replied. The clerk looked at Castle and saw Castle smile and nod his head. He had also holstered his gun. "Oh...okay..."

Mann shut the door in his clerk's face and then turned to face Castle.

"Hey, Bobby, everything going good?" Castle said.

"Come here, you silly so and so." Bobby Mann said as he reached out to Castle and pulled him into a warm embrace.

Castle was the first to break the embrace.

"So how are things, Bobby?"

The smile dropped from Mann's face. He shook his head ruefully.

"Couldn't be worse." Mann said, looking at Castle. "Ricky, I owe you a thousand dollars, and I've got maybe a hundred."

The smile on Castle's face started to fade a little. He did not like the sound of what Bobby Mann was telling him. He had been hoping that the bank president would have the full amount he owed. If he could not trust a bank president, who could he trust?

Bobby Mann reached into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out a folded bill.

"I've a hundred here." Mann said. "I never welched on a debt in my life, Ricky, you know that. Give me till the end of the year."

"I kind of need it now, Bobby."

"It's that poker championship, isn't it?"

Castle nodded his head.

"I knew it. What's the entry fee, twenty-five grand?"

Castle nodded again.

Bobby Mann let out a low whistle. "I'm really sorry, Ricky."

"Porkchop Slim owed me too, but he died." Castle said, unhappily. "His widow used my thousand dollars for the funeral."

"I heard he was cremated."

"The widow Porkchop conned me?" Castle was stunned. He shook his head. "What is it with people nowadays?"

"I feel the same way." Bobby Mann said sympathetically. "It's hard to trust anybody."

Bobby Mann opened the door and was startled to find a masked man standing in the doorway with a gun pointed at him.

"My God, there really is a robbery." Bobby Mann muttered.

The gunman snatched the hundred dollar bill from out of Castle's hand. He shoved the bill into a pocket of his vest and then started to frisk Bobby Mann. The gunman's eyes lit up a moment later when he pulled out a large wad of money from the inside pocket of Mann's jacket.

Castle stared at Bobby Mann with narrowed eyes.

"You said you were broke." Castle accused the bank president.

"I am now." Bobby Mann shrugged.

The gunman motioned to both Castle and Bobby Mann to get out of the office and were marched to the man body of the bank. Castle spotted a second gunman had bailed up the clerks and customers, while a third gunman was kneeling on the floor at the end of a long fuse. The other end of the fuse was attached to several sticks of dynamite that were attached to the door of the bank's large safe. The gunman was struggling to strike a match.

Castle saw the third gunman had managed to light the fuse a moment later dived to the floor. The second gunman followed suit as did the clerks and customers. Castle grabbed Bobby Mann by the arm and dragged him to the floor.

The peace and tranquillity of the morning in Crystal River was shattered by the very loud explosion inside the bank. The shopfront windows were blown out sending shards of glass in all directions. The front door, which had been closed and locked, was blown off its hinges and was sent flying right across the street to land in the front bar of the Angry Mule Saloon. Smoke and dust billowed out of the broken windows and door of the bank, as did countless bills.

A minute later Castle emerged from the smoke and dust, stumbling into the street. He coughed and spluttered and was half blind from the smoke from the explosion. Wiping the dust from his eyes he was surprised to find Roy Montgomery, Ryan and Esposito standing in the street, looking meaner than they had the night before.

Castle offered a small, hesitant smile before he turned and made a dash down the alley beside the bank. Montgomery and his men were right behind Castle. Castle came to a dead end and stopped. He heard his pursuers had also come to a stop. Slowly Castle turned around and looked at each of the men, who had fanned out to prevent any chance of escape. Castle's gaze settled on Montgomery.

"Anybody see you?" Castle asked.

"Not a soul." Montgomery replied. Suddenly the stern expression on his face transformed into a smile.

"If you guys had come in any later last night, Sasha would have eaten me alive." Castle remarked.

"Anyone suspect anything?" Montgomery asked.

Castle shook his head.

"You guys were great. It couldn't have gone any better."

"Truth is, we enjoyed it." Esposito said.

Castle looked at the Hispanic man and saw the grin he wore on his face. Esposito did not hide the fact that he had enjoyed the fight a little more than he was letting on. Castle resisted the urge to rub his jaw where Esposito's fist had landed.

"Thanks for going easy on us." Ryan added.

"Easy?" Castle exclaimed. He turned and looked at Ryan. "Damn. Those were my best shots."

Esposito turned to look at Ryan a triumphant smirk on his face.

"See told you, those punches were the best he got.

"Yeah, yeah, okay. You were right." Ryan said unhappily.

"That's five dollars you owe me, amigo." Esposito held out his hand to Ryan.

"I'll pay you later."

Castle looked at Montgomery.

"What happened to LT, wasn't he supposed to be with you?" Castle asked.

"Couldn't make it." Ryan replied simply.

"Missus wouldn't let him come out." Esposito added, sniggering.

"Why not?" Castle asked.

"On account that his missus was having a baby." Montgomery explained.

Castle dug into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out a wad of money. He was silently thankful that the bank robber had taken the hundred dollar bill from him and did not bother to frisk him like he had done to Bobby Mann.

"So what did we agree on?" Castle asked as he unfolded the money. "Twenty?"

"Twenty-five." Montgomery corrected him.

"Twenty-five it is." Castle nodded.

Castle counted out twenty-five dollars and passed the money to Montgomery, then he did the same to Esposito and then Ryan. Castle saw that he had thirty dollars left. He folded the money and held it out to Montgomery.

"That's LT's share, plus a little extra for the baby." Castle informed him.

Montgomery nodded his head as he accepted the offered money. Castle had no doubt that the money would find its way to LT.

"Always a pleasure doing business with you, Castle." Ryan said before he started off down the alleyway.

"Yeah." Esposito added before he saluted and moved to catch up to his friend.

XXX

(thinks about Kate and can't help but smile thinking about her)

Castle stood in a fresh undershirt as he finished packing his bag. He had returned to his hotel room to change his clothes after that episode at the bank. He was a little disappointed that Bobby Mann did not have the money that he owed. It was not exactly Bobby's fault that his bank was robbed. Still his visit to Crystal River not been a complete loss. A small smile played at the corners of his mouth as he remembered that he had won almost a thousand dollars at the poker table last night.

The smile on his face deepened when he remembered what had occurred in this room last night. Truth be told he had found sleep a little hard to come by. A certain female poker player with a propensity for pickpocketing had invaded his thoughts for most of the night. He realised that if he had played his cards right it could have turned out a completely different way rather than seeing her walk out of his room.

Spotting a deck of cards on the dressing table he drew a card from the deck. On turning it over he found that it was an eight of clubs. A frown crossed his face as he dropped the card on the dresser. He was not happy to draw and eight of clubs. It did not auger well. It was sign that his luck might be starting to change.

Moving away from the dresser Castle moved to the bed. The frown on his face was replaced with a smile as he picked up his gambling shirt and pulled off the tissue paper it was wrapped in. He was mildly surprised to discover that Kate had actually washed the shirt as he had demanded. He could not help but think that Kate Beckett was indeed a woman of many talents.

He wasted little time in putting it on.

It took him quite a bit of effort to pull on the shirt. He was less than impressed when he stood in front of the mirror and looked at his reflection. He could not believe what he was staring at. Kate had shrunk his shirt. His favourite gambling shirt no less. He turned away from the mirror and stormed to the balcony and stared down the street. He spotted Beckett climbing aboard a stage coach.

"Beckett!" Castle shouted angrily.

Kate Beckett was about to step inside the stage coach when she heard her name being called. She looked behind her and spotted Castle standing on the balcony of the Crystal Palace hotel. She smiled and gave him a wave good-bye then disappeared inside the coach.

A couple of minutes later Castle exploded from the front entrance of the hotel carrying his bag. He raced down the street after the stage coach which was making its way down to the river landing where a ferry was waiting. Castle was wearing the shrunken shirt. He had tried to take it off but found it was almost next to impossible to do it quickly and not do further damage to the garment. So rather than waste any more time he left the shirt on, grabbed his jacket and bag then raced after Kate.

Reaching the landing Kate had dismounted from the stage coach and watched as it was loaded onto the ferry. Castle reached the landing a couple of minutes later and found Kate standing on the jetty looking at the ferry. He took a moment to catch his breath before he marched up to her.

"You did this on purpose." Castle said angrily.

Kate slowly turned around to find Castle standing there. An amused smile settled on her lips as she slowly took in the shrunken shirt he was wearing. It seemed to be constricting him but in a nice way. His broad chest and rippled stomach seemed like it was wanting to break free of the tight confines.

"You bet I did." Kate replied.

"This was my lucky shirt."

"Well, you'd better learn how to do your own laundry in future." Kate said as she turned to face the ferry.

Castle could not help but notice that Kate had dropped her southern accent. He did not like being dismissed in such an offhand manner. He dropped his bag and stepped up to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and pun her around. He saw the defiant look that blazed in her hazel eyes and he found that he rather liked that. There was a lot of spirit in this filly.

"My underwear comes from New York, where the hell do you think this shirt was made? Paris, France, lady." Castle said with growing anger. "You think they sell them in the dry goods store?"

"Why don't you try the kiddies department." Kate quipped.

Beckett started to move away from Castle but he reached out and grabbed her. Kate turned and glared at him.

"Remove your hands from the lady." A stern sounding male voice ordered.

Castle slowly turned his head. Standing behind him was a tall man dressed in a black three piece suit and matching black hat. He was in his late sixties or early seventies but had a look and bearing about him that suggested he could have been ten years younger and perhaps a little more. His salt and pepper beard was neatly trimmed and it matched the colour of the neatly coiffured hair under his hat. His blue eyes were steady and unreadable, and the overall expression on his face was that of a man who was well used to having his orders obeyed.

Castle reluctantly released his hold on Kate.

"Sometimes when you least expect it, a hero arrives." Kate remarked, her southern accent back in place. "Mister...?"

The man removed his hat.

"Jackson Hunt, ma'am." The man said. "Most folks call me Jackson, which suits me fine."

"Jackson." Castle nodded.

Kate glanced at Castle before looking at Jackson. "This silly looking creature is named Castle." She waved at Castle as she took a step closer to Jackson and held out her hand to him.

"And I'm Kate Beckett."

Jackson took her hand and smiled as he shook it. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, ma'am."

"I'm taking taking this stage." Kate pointed.

Jackson smiled a little more. "As it happens, so am I."

Castle looked from Kate to Jackson smiling at each other and shook his head.

"Oh this is just going to be hell of a lot of fun." He muttered to himself.

"I don't know what this ruffian would have done to me if had been just the two of us alone on the stage." Kate said, glancing at Castle.

"I hope you can relax and enjoy the journey now." Jackson said as he helped Kate onto the ferry and then into the coach. Castle followed them.

"Here's my feeling, if there weren't any women, we wouldn't be here." Jackson added.

Castle made a face on hearing that. He turned and looked at Jackson.

"What kind of sense does that make?" He said. "If there weren't any men, we wouldn't be here either."

Jackson turned and regarded Castle silently for a moment.

"Are you mocking me?" Jackson said, flatly.

"Before I answer, does it bother you?" Castle said cautiously.

"I can get ruffled." Jackson nodded.

"Well, we don't want you ruffled." Castle grinned in a friendly manner. "Why don't we say I was agreeing with you in a totally unusual way."

As the two men looked at each other Kate poked her head out of the window of the coach and smiled at the older man.

"What would the world be without true gentlemen like yourself, Jackson?"

Jackson smiled and tugged the brim of his hat acknowledging the compliment.

Castle rolled his eyes and turned away. He spotted a sickly looking elderly man approaching the stage coach. To Castle's keen eye the man looked like death warmed over. With a friendly smile Castle opened the door of the stage coach as the man reached him.

"I'm the driver." The man announced, pointing to the front of the coach.

"You are?" Castle said, surprised. "You okay?"

"Why are people always asking me that?" The man said, irritated. He held out a rather shaky arm.

"Help me up son, or we'll never get a move on."

Castle was about to tell the old man that the ferry had to cross the river first but decided not to push it. Probably be better if the old guy was sitting at the front of the stage coach when the ferry reached the other side. He jumped up to the front seat and then grabbed the old man's hand helping him up. It was not an easy task but after a couple of attempts the old man, puffing and wheezing considerably managed to climb up on to the coach, settling down in the seat. He gave a nod of thanks to Castle.

Castle jumped off the coach and made his way to the bow of the ferry where Jackson was standing. The ferry was slowly pulling away from the landing starting its crossing to the landing on the other side of the river.

"You could have given me a hand with the old guy, you know?" Castle remarked.

"Didn't look like you needed any help." Jackson replied, staring at the other side of the river.

Castle moved away from the tall man. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and took out a deck of cards. To while away a little time Castle started to shuffle the cards. He then started to manipulate the cards with one hand fanning out the deck like a lady's fan. Closing the fan he did a few more tricks. To anyone watching him they would have said that he was quite the expert with the cards.

Kate got out of the coach and made her way to where Jackson and Castle were standing. She noticed Castle doing tricks with the deck of cards. She was mightily impressed with his dexterity but refused to let it show on her face. The man had a big enough ego as it was, as she had discovered, and did not need any further encouragement.

"I think it's time we got to know each other." Kate announced. "Mr Castle here has aspirations towards being a card player."

Castle looked up from the cards and narrowed his eyes at Kate not pleased with her jab. He remained silent not rising to her bait.

"I'm not totally ignorant of cards." Jackson informed them. "Can't be in my line of work."

"And pray what that might be?" Kate inquired.

"Lawman."

Beckett's eyebrows rose upwards slightly and she forced an expression of awe on her face as she looked at Jackson.

"I'll bet you're the best there is." She breezed quickly. "I can tell things about a man."

"You know, I still can't quite place your accent, Miss Beckett." Castle called out. He put away the cards and walked over to where Jackson and Beckett were standing. "What part of the South you from?"

Castle saw the little nervous glint in Kate's eyes as if she had been caught off guard by his question. It vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared and she smiled confidently.

"Ever been to Mobile?" She asked.

"No." Castle replied.

"Well. I'm from Mobile, Alabama."

"Oh, I thought you meant Mobile Arizona." Castle said quickly. "Never been there but I have been to Mobile, Alabama."

Castle almost laughed when he saw Kate's eyes darken.

"I bet we know lots of the same people. You start." He continued.

Suddenly tears welled up in Kate's eyes. She turned and buried her face in Jackson's shoulder.

"I've tried so hard to forget that place." She murmured. Pausing she looked up longingly at Jackson.

"I've endured such personal tragedy there." Kate sniffed.

Castle could not help but be impressed with the woman. When caught off guard she was very quick on her feet and had a plan B ready to go. It seemed the simpering damsel in distress was always ready to make an appearance on stage.

"Oh, bravo." Castle said as he clapped his hands at her performance.

"A woman's suffering is not a funny thing." Jackson said sternly. "Bertie."

Castle winced at that name.

"It's Rick...Rick Castle." He retorted.

Castle watched as Jackson soothed the tearful Kate. He was not buying her tears, not for a minute. Jackson gave him a dark look before he drew Kate away from the bow of the ferry and back to the stage coach. Kate turned to look behind her and poked her tongue at Castle.

"I'd watch your billfold if I were you." Castle called out to Jackson.

Almost immediately Castle reached into the pocket of his jacket and checked his wallet was still there. A look of relief swept across his face when his hands closed around the wallet containing his money.

XXX

An hour had passed since the ferry had reached the other side of the Crystal River and the stage coach now was passing though a desert mountain area. Castle was gazing out the window at the majestic looking rock formations that the coach was passing through. There was a bored expression on his face as he unconsciously played with the deck of cards. Sitting on the other side of the coach was Kate and Jackson in animated conversation. A conversation that Castle could not help but listen in to, even though he tried to look like he wasn't.

He had to take his hat off to Kate. Her flirting and simpering had managed to draw a story or two out of the taciturn Jackson Hunt. To Castle he did not look like a man who liked telling stories. With an eager audience like Kate it was very hard refuse.

"But how could you face them down?" Kate gushed, looking wide-eyed. "Nine men, all of them armed."

Jackson looked a might bashful as he looked at Kate.

"Well, when a man gives his word to do his job, he's honour bound to do it." Jackson said slowly.

Kate leaned a little closer to Jackson.

"But you must have been afraid?" She said in a low voice.

A hint of a smile appeared on Jackson's lips. "A mite." He conceded.

Kate smiled and gave Jackson's arm an affectionate squeeze. She glanced across and saw Castle still gazing out the window.

"Mr Castle here, doesn't believe in bravery."

Castle slowly turned away from the window and looked at Kate.

"Now, Miss Beckett, all I said was I think it's overrated, and it doesn't suit me."

Kate turned to Jackson and gave him a look as if to say 'See what I mean'. Jackson smiled a little more.

"I just realised something." Jackson said.

"What's that?" Castle asked.

"You're spineless."

"I hope so." Castle nodded his head. "It's kept me alive this long."

"Where would the world be if everybody was like you?" Kate said, shaking her head.

"The world would be okay." Castle informed her. "It would have a lot more poker tables, a lot less violence."

"Ah, the turn of a friendly card has brought more violence than you've had hot dinners, son." Jackson said, nodding his head almost sage-like.

Castle shrugged his shoulders. He could not argue with the man. He had been in a few scrapes over the years as a result of playing poker. Still he continued with the point he was trying to make before Jackson had interrupted him.

"Well, when I went to war, my pappy said, 'Son if you come back with a medal, I'll kill you with my bare hands'. Brought me up to be obedient, he did."

Kate was a little surprised to learn that Castle had been in the war.

"You were in the war, Mr Castle?"

Castle had resumed playing with the cards and staring out the window again.

"No, I got captured early, prisoner for a while." Castle replied, a little defensively. He brightened a moment later. "Then I came out here and scouted."

Castle turned from the window and looked at Kate, briefly smiling.

"I brought in Geronimo once, hell of a poker player he was. Helped him get free once. He did belong free."

For a couple of moments Kate just looked at Castle and did not say a word. She glanced at Jackson and saw the same disbelieving look on his face.

"I don't believe you, Castle." She said finally.

"He was a wonderful poker player." Castle insisted.

"I don't believe anything you say."

"Neither do I." Jackson added.

Castle looked at the older man and then at Kate. He shrugged his shoulders and then turned to looked out the window.

"So, Miss Beckett where you headed?" Jackson inquired a couple of minutes later, breaking the silence in the stage coach.

"I'm heading to St Louis."

"Is that a fact?"

Kate nodded her head.

"I'm heading to St Louis too." Jackson smiled.

"Well I do declare." Kate smiled brightly. "Isn't that fortunate?"

"Ugh! What have I done to deserve this?" Castle muttered aloud.

"Knowing you Castle, I'd say all manner of devilry." Kate retorted.

Castle cast a look in Kate's direction and saw the mischievous glint in her eye. Slowly he shook his head. This was definitely going to be a very long stage coach ride, he thought to himself. Once more he started to do tricks with the deck of cards in his hand. It was not only going to be a long coach ride but to make matters worse he had the distinct feeling that he was going to be the butt of Kate and Jackson's entertainment for the entire journey.

XXXXX

_**For those who know the movie will realise that there is more to this story but I felt that ending it where I did was the right thing to do. I may came back to this story down the track with another chapter. As usual, let me know what you thought of this effort.**_

_**Con **_


	6. Chapter 6

From The Movies

Chapter 6

The Castle Notebook

(The Notebook)

Even after two years Detective First Grade Ann Hastings still found it hard to believe she was working in the Office of The Commissioner of Police. From time to time she had to stop and pinch herself that she was the primary aid for the Commissioner. Today was not one of those days. She had been sitting at her desk since seven o'clock in the morning.

Working back late was something that Hastings had gotten used to pretty quickly. Working on the weekends had become par for the course as well. The long hours had started almost from the first day she had been appointed as Primary Aid. The Police Commissioner she worked for did not work any less hours and more often than not, worked even longer hours. Her family were well used to her unusual working hours.

Today was a Saturday and instead of being at Central Park watching her youngest son playing little league, Detective Hastings was at her desk outside of the Commissioner's office.

Hastings frowned as she checked her watch. It was nearing one o'clock and her son's game would be starting soon. She hated the thought of having to ring her husband to tell him that she would not be able to make it to the game. She had done that too many times already. It tore at her heart the look of disappointment she saw in her children's' eyes when she had to miss some event that was important to them.

Detective Hastings started to reach for her phone when she heard the door to the office open. Looking up Hastings saw a uniformed sergeant enter clutching a file to his chest.

"Here are the overnight crime reports." The sergeant announced when he reached Hastings's desk.

"Thank you, sergeant." Hastings said as she took the file.

The sergeant cast a glance in the direction of the door that led into the Commissioner's office.

"The Boss is working today?" The sergeant asked.

"Yeah, working Saturday morning." Hastings replied.

Hastings did not add: _'As usual'_. She did not need to. Everyone at 1 Police Plaza knew that the Commissioner worked on Saturdays and even more than a few Sunday mornings. It was well known that the Commissioner was a workaholic, always the first to arrive at 1PP in the morning. And though the Commissioner would leave in the afternoon or early in the evening there were occasions when the Commissioner would return to the office very late in the evening.

The sergeant shook his head slowly and then shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'What can you do?' He nodded a good-bye to Hastings and then walked out of the office.

Hastings watched as the sergeant leave the office before she turned her attention to the file she had been given. Opening the file she slowly went through the list of crimes that had been reported overnight in the City of New York. It had been one of the first things the Commissioner had requested when taking up the post. A twice daily update of all the crimes reported in the entire city.

It was Hastings's job to go through the report before showing it to the Commissioner. She went through it to see if there was anything noteworthy or special that the Commissioner needed to know about or might have an interest in and start throwing questions at her.

It had happened once, on the second or third day in her new job. Hastings had been unprepared for the volley of questions had been thrown at her over some crime that had occurred over in The Bronx. It had been the first and only time she had been unprepared for the Commissioner's questions. Nowadays, she went through the report carefully. She had even gotten a feel of what the Commissioner might ask.

The first two pages of the report had nothing of special interest. It was halfway down on the third page that made Hastings pause when she saw the name. At first Hastings was going to dismiss as some citizen with the same name. Reading further she saw that it was not some citizen with the same name. She knew the victim and more importantly so did the Commissioner.

Hastings immediately turned to her computer and quickly typed in the crime report reference number into the Police database, calling up the report. She read the report that the detective had written about the incident. Then she read it again. The next thing she did was to print out the report.

Returning to her desk with the printed sheets Hastings read the crime report one more time before she shoved the sheets into a Manila folder. Setting the folder on top of the crime report she then reached for her desk phone and punched in a number.

"This is Detective Hastings calling from the Commissioner's Office." Hastings announced in a commanding tone of voice to the person who had answered her call.

Hastings had to suppress the smile that threatened to break across her face. She had quickly learned early on, that one sentence could put the fear of God from a lowly patrol officer right up to the Chief of Police.

"I'd like to speak to Detective Julio Sanchez, please."

Hastings was put on hold as the call was transferred. While she waited Hastings looked through the remainder of the crime report to see if there was anything else that might be of interest. She was thankful there wasn't anything.

"_Sanchez."_ A gruff sounding voice barked.

"Detective Sanchez, this is Detective Hastings from the Commissioner's Office." Hastings announced. "I'm calling about that mugging you dealt with yesterday evening."

"_Okay, why is the Police Commissioner so interested in a run of the mill mugging case, Detective?" _ Sanchez inquired.

"What can you tell me about it, Detective Sanchez?" Hastings replied, ignoring the man's question.

"_Nothing much to tell, really." _ Sanchez said wearily. _"It's all in the report I wrote up."_

"Tell me every thing about it, Detective Sanchez."

Hastings heard the man on the other end of the line sigh wearily before he began to recount about the incident. Hastings listened carefully, making notes on the pad beside her telephone, and occasionally asking a question to clarify something. Ten minutes later she put down the phone. Picking up her note pad she looked over her notes as she leaned back in her chair weighing up the information she had just been given by Detective Sanchez.

A couple of minutes later she tossed the note pad back on the desk. She rose from her chair and gathered up the crime reports. Moving around her desk Hastings made her way to the frosted glass double doors that led into the Commissioner's office. She knocked on the door and opened it without waiting to be called in.

"Excuse me, Commissioner. I've got the overnight crime figures." Hastings announced as she approached the Commissioner's desk.

The woman sitting behind the desk made no response and did not look up when Hastings came a halt beside the desk. She watched as the Commissioner finished the last of the promotion files. Hastings knew that the Commissioner had spent the morning going through all promotion candidates' files.

A small frown settled on Hastings's face as she watched the woman working. There were far more lines marring that beautiful face and the flecks of grey were becoming more prominent. Above all the woman looked pale and tired, very tired that not even make up could disguise. The woman looked exhausted. Hastings could not help but feel a little concerned for her.

Kate Beckett signed her name with a flourish on the last file before she closed it and set it on top of the pile of promotions she had already approved. She set her pen down and slowly looked up to the silent Detective Hastings and offered the Detective an apologetic, if tired smile.

Commissioner of The New York Police Kate Beckett looked very tired and made no attempt to hide it. Hastings knew that Beckett had come into the office around six-thirty this morning. The plate of sandwiches that Hastings had brought in a couple of hours ago remained untouched but the mug of coffee she had brought with the sandwiches was empty. It was one of many Hastings' self appointed tasks, making sure Commissioner Beckett had something to eat and supplied with coffee.

"Anything I should know about, Ann?" Kate asked as she held out her hand for the report.

Hastings passed over the crime report and watched as Kate opened the file and quickly perused through the overnight crime report

"On page three, ma'am." Hastings said helpfully.

Kate glanced at Hastings catching her aide's tone. She raised a questioning eyebrow. Hastings did not respond to the silent question other than to nod at the file Kate had in her hands. Kate looked down and quickly flipped to the third page of the report and scanned down the list of names. She came to the name that had made Hastings pause.

Kate quickly looked up at Hastings.

"What happened?" She demanded, trying not to sound anxious or worried.

"A mugging." Hastings informed her. She then passed over the print out of the crime report.

Kate took the file and opened it.

"I spoke to the detective assigned to the case." Hastings added.

"And?" Kate pressed.

"She was mugged a block from home, had her purse snatched."

"Was she hurt?" Kate asked looking up from the file in her hand.

"Nothing serious, just a couple of minor scratches, ma'am." Hastings reported. "She tried to fight the off the perp but he was too quick, too strong and he took her purse."

Kate was relieved to hear that and it showed on her face. "Do we have a description of the assailant?"

"Yes ma'am." Hastings confirmed "We got a pretty good one. There were a couple of witnesses who came to her assistance."

Kate nodded her head slowly. She took a deep breath and slowed down her racing heart. It had come as a shock to discover her own daughter had been a mugging victim. She started to reach for her cell phone.

"I dare say that the chances of apprehending the assailant have improved considerably now that Detective Sanchez is aware the Commissioner's Officer has an interest in the case." Hastings added with a small grin.

Kate frowned a little but did not say a word in response to Hastings' last comment. She did not like having her office used in such a manner but on this occasion she was prepared to let that small indiscretion slide. She was more bothered that her daughter had not called her about it the incident. What hurt even more was the thought that no member of her family felt it was important enough to let her know what had happened because she might have been too busy.

She closed the file and tossed it into her briefcase that was sitting open on the side of the desk.

"Ann, notify my detail I'll be leaving in ten minutes." Kate announced.

"Yes, ma'am"

Hastings turned and started for the door.

"And then go home." Kate added.

"You know the deal, Commissioner." The detective said over her shoulder. "I go home when you go home."

"You have a family waiting for you."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Isn't it your son's little league final today?"

Hastings's stopped and turned to look back at the Commissioner. She was a little taken aback that her boss knew about her son's little league game. She could not recall having mentioned it to the Commissioner.

"Go home, Ann." Kate urged gently.

"They understand, Commissioner."

"Ann…"

"I go home when you go home, ma'am." Hastings repeated.

Kate frowned as she watched Hastings leave the office. She did not like seeing Hastings working back late, and hated it when she had to work weekends. She admired the woman's loyalty though. Secretly she was proud of the way the woman had turned out following that incident all those years ago. She had been an exemplary patrol office and later became a decorated detective. Hastings had married her writer and was still married to him. Writers and their muses, Kate thought to herself with a shake of her head.

Five minutes later Kate emerged from her office. It was too warm to wear her trench coat so she had draped it over her forearm. In her free arm she carried the promotion files she had spent several hours going through and signing off on. Reaching Hastings' desk she placed the files on the desk.

"You're still here?" Kate observed.

Hastings shrugged her shoulders in reply.

"You know I could have you busted down to traffic division for disobeying my orders?"

"I'll take my chances, ma'am."

Kate knew she would get nowhere with this matter and decided to drop it. Detective Ann Hastings could be stubborn when she wanted to be. It reminded her of another time and another female detective.

"Those are the promotions." Kate announced, pointing to the files on the desk. "The announcements can be made Monday morning."

"Yes Commissioner. I'll notify Public Affairs and then set up the phone calls for you."

"First thing Monday."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Is there anything on the calendar for tomorrow?" Kate asked.

Hastings sat up a little straighter in her chair and turned to her computer screen. She tapped a key on the keyboard and brought up the Commissioner's calendar. She studied the screen for a moment before she looked up at Kate.

"Nothing on the calendar for tomorrow, Commissioner."

Kate was relieved to hear that, and was silently grateful to her aid. Hastings's always made sure to keep her Sundays as clear as possible. It was not always the case though.

"You have a Compstat Meeting at 9.30 Monday morning, and then you have the Mayor's weekly briefing." Hastings reported as she looked at the calendar on the screen.

Kate nodded her head in understanding. The briefing with the mayor was a weekly ritual where the Commissioner briefed the Mayor on the Police Department's activities and performance for the past week.

"Then you have a lunchtime budget meeting with the Mayor, ma'am."

"What time?"

"At 12:30pm."

Kate let out a tired sigh and nodded her head. She was not looking forward to that budget meeting. Her briefcase was weighed down with budget papers which she was going to go through after getting home in preparation for that meeting. Once again she and the NYPD were being asked to do to more with less money. Nothing official had been said but the word that Kate had heard was that the department was going to receive a cut to the yearly budget somewhere in the region between two and five percent. Working out budgets for the department was one aspect of being Police Commissioner that Kate did not like. She loathed having to cut back on resources to the frontline operations of the department.

"See if you can schedule it right after the weekly briefing."

"I'll call them and see if they can change the time, ma'am."

"Okay."

"You do know that His Honour is going to ask you whether you will accept a full term appointment."

"He hasn't even won the election yet." Kate sighed.

"Doesn't want to leave it till the last minute, ma'am."

Kate could not stop the frown that settled on her face. For some weeks now the Mayor had been asking her whether she was willing to continue as the Police Commissioner. It was a decision she had yet to make. She had been appointed to the position two years back to serve out the remainder of her predecessor's term when he had to resign over a high class call girl scandal.

She had been appointed above quite a number of well qualified senior officers and it had caused considerable controversy. A number of noses had been put out of joint. Kate had weathered the storm and got on with the job she had been appointed to do. In time the controversy died down and most of the senior officers came to accept her appointment. Those that did not either resigned or were moved on.

"So what's it going to be, Commissioner?" Hastings pressed.

"You'll be one of the first to know when I make my decision." Kate replied. "What else is on the calendar, Detective?"

Hastings consulted the calendar.

"You also have that speech at the community organizations meeting Monday evening."

"I haven't seen a draft of the speech." Kate remarked.

"I'll have the draft sent to you, ma'am."

Kate nodded her head. "Anything else?"

"Not for Monday, ma'am."

"What about the rest of the week?"

Kate moved around the desk to look at the computer screen to study the calendar.

"Just a few operational meetings and a couple of other meetings and a public appearance here and there."

"What's that for Friday night?" Kate pointed to the screen.

"I don't know, ma'am." Hastings replied. "I didn't put it there."

Hastings called up the entry for Friday night and looked at it a moment before she turned and looked up at the Commissioner.

"It's an interview with Channel 6 News." Hastings reported. "This is the first I've seen of it, ma'am. Commissioner Haas must have scheduled it."

"Without telling me." Kate muttered as she walked back to the front of the desk. "Cancel it or have it rescheduled."

"Yes, ma'am."

Her head of Public Information had been doing that, regularly scheduling interviews with media organizations after work hours. It was starting to annoy Kate but she knew why Deputy Commissioner Paula Haas was doing it. It still annoyed her though.

"You know the rule."

"Nothing between five and eight pm, yes, ma'am. I will remind Commissioner Haas _again_."

"Thank you. Anything else?"

"I'll email you a copy of the calendar for the rest of the week, along with the draft of that speech, ma'am."

"Okay, good."

Kate moved away from Hastings' desk and started to make her way towards the doors that led out of the office.

"Go to your son's ballgame, Ann. That's an order." Kate called over her shoulder.

"Yes, Commissioner." Hastings replied.

Nearing the frosted double doors Kate saw a member of her protection detail waiting patiently by the doors. A smile appeared on her face when she recognized the young man.

"Detective Karpowski, they've got you on the weekend shift I see."

"Afternoon, Commissioner." Detective Steven Karpowski grinned as he opened the door for the Commissioner.

Two other members of the protection detail were stationed in the foyer and they immediately moved to surround Kate as they moved towards the elevator. One of the detectives pressed the call button.

"How is your mother, Detective Karpowski?" Kate inquired as they waited for the elevator to arrive. "It's been a while since I've seen her."

"She's good, ma'am, thank you for asking."

"Please pass on my regards to her when you see her next."

"I'll make sure to do that, ma'am.

The elevator arrived on the floor and the doors slid open. One of the bodyguards stepped into the elevator first and Kate followed him in. Detective Karpowski and the other bodyguard entered last. Detective Karpowski pressed the button for the basement garage.

"Slight detour this afternoon, gentlemen." Kate announced once she settled in the back seat of the black SUV.

Detective Karpowski, sitting in the front seat, turned in his seat to look back at the Commissioner.

"Ma'am?"

"I want to make a stop at the Loft." Kate informed him

Detective Karpowski showed no surprise on his face. He was used to having the Commissioner announce last minute detours. All of her protection detail was used to such things.

"Yes, ma'am." Karpowski replied simply as he glanced at the driver and nodded his head. Then he lifted his right sleeve to his mouth and spoke into the microphone hidden in the sleeve informing the rest of the protection detail in the chase car about the detour the Commissioner had requested.

XXX

Kate stepped out of the elevator and started walking down the corridor towards the apartment. It had been another long morning of working and decision making and she was feeling exhausted. It did not help that she was surviving on less than a handful of hours of sleep each night. Yet there was so much work she needed to be on top of, finding enough hours in the day was difficult.

Not getting enough sleep was nothing new for Kate. There had been a time long ago when working a difficult murder case when she got by with only a couple of hours sleep each day, if that. She and the old couch in the break room at the 12th Precinct had become very well acquainted.

Her body was telling her that she was not that young any more and could not do the things she used to. Regardless Kate continued to push herself. It is what she did.

Kate came to a halt in front of the door to the loft. She reached out and placed her hand on the door knob. It came as no surprise to her to find the door was locked. After what had happened yesterday evening she would have been more surprised if the door was unlocked. She dug her hand into the pocket of her blazer and searched for her keys. All she found was her phone.

Kate frowned as she dug into the other pocket of the blazer but again there were no keys. Letting out a huff of frustration she raised her hand ready to knock on the door. A set of keys dangling from a keyring materialised before her eyes. Kate slid her gaze to Detective Karpowski standing beside her. The rest of her protection detail had been left downstairs in the lobby at her insistence and they had complied.

"You dropped them on the back seat." Karpwoski explained.

"Thank you, Detective." Kate said as she took the keys from her bodyguard.

Kate unlocked the door and entered the loft. She quietly closed the door and stood in the hallway not exactly sure what she would find. It had been some months since she had called the loft home. She cast a look around. A part of her was relieved to see that nothing seemed to have changed in her absence.

"Kate."

Kate turned in the direction of the kitchen and could not help the smile that rose to her face on seeing Alexis coming out of the kitchen and heading towards her.

"Hey, Alexis." Kate said softly.

Kate continued to smile as she looked at Alexis. She had grown into a beautiful, mature woman. The long red hair she had sported in her youth and college years had been shortened over time and now only just reached her shoulders. The hair colour had also transformed. Gone was the fiery orange hue replaced by a softer, slightly darker red colour. There were a few lines around her eyes, yet the colour of her eyes had not changed at all and always reminded Kate of her husband's eyes. Alexis' eyes just looked older and wiser and more alive.

The apple had not fallen too far from the tree, either. Alexis was now a successful author in her own right with several best sellers to her name. Her writing career had started when she had helped her father with the last _Nikki Heat_ novel. She had done such a good job of it that Black Pawn had offered her a lucrative three book deal. It was only after urgings from her father that she started writing herself and had not looked back.

The two women hugged warmly and lovingly.

"Did you stay overnight?" Kate asked once she pulled back from their embrace.

Alexis nodded her head.

"How is she?" Kate asked.

"She's fine." Alexis assured her. "Tough, like her mother."

Kate nodded her head.

"You should have called me, Alexis." Kate chided gently.

"I was going to but she begged me not to." Alexis explained.

Kate wanted to argue with her but quickly realised Alexis was in that unenviable position of being much older than her other siblings that made her a de facto maternal figure and a big sister. This time she had chosen to play the role of the supportive big sister.

"I would have called if there had been anything serious." Alexis added as she made her way back to the kitchen. "I'm making some coffee, like some?"

Alexis stopped suddenly and looked back to Kate.

"Look whom I'm asking." She added with a laugh.

Kate smiled back and nodded her head.

"Is she upstairs?" Kate asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, in her room." Alexis replied.

Kate turned and started up the stairs. She came to a halt in front of her daughter's room. She knocked on the door and opened it.

"Amelia, can I come in?"

"Hey mom."

Amelia Castle was sitting at her desk working on a laptop. She smiled on seeing her mother and immediately rose from her chair. Amelia was a tall girl of twenty-two. She had taken after her father in the height department but the hair and looks was all Kate. There were times when Kate would swear she was looking at her younger self.

Mother and daughter hugged each other tightly.

"Are you alright, sweetheart?" Kate asked.

"I'm fine, mom." Amelia assured her.

Amelia was the first to break off the embrace and stepped back.

"Why didn't you call me?" Kate asked.

"I didn't want to bother you." Amelia replied, apologetically. "I know how busy you are."

Kate felt a little stab of pain on hearing that.

"I'm never too busy for you." Kate replied. "I'm never too busy for any of my children. Don't ever forget that, okay?"

Amelia smiled hesitantly and slowly nodded her head.

"I know." She said in a low voice.

Kate regarded her daughter carefully and saw the small scratches on the side of her chin.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, mom."

"Sure?"

"I'm sure. Mom, don't worry." Amelia said, rolling her eyes.

Easier said than done, Kate thought to herself. Though all three of her children were grown up, living their own lives and could take care of themselves, Kate never stopped worrying about them. Never would stop worrying.

XXX

Mother and daughter walked into the kitchen arm in arm.

"If it's any consolation, it wont be long before we catch the guy who mugged you." Kate informed her daughter as she sat down on a stool by the island. "Ann Hastings has made very sure of that."

"I almost feel sorry for Detective Sanchez." Amelia laughed.

"It's the assailant who should be sorry." Kate said.

Kate smiled as she reached out and picked up the mug of coffee that Alexis had placed on the counter in front of her. As she took a sip of the coffee she noticed Amelia doing the same with her own mug of coffee. Amelia had definitely acquired the same love of coffee that she did. Without a shadow of doubt Amelia did take after her, Kate thought with some amusement. The ghost of a smile that had been playing on Kate's lips suddenly vanished when she remembered some of the wild things she had gotten up to when she had been Amelia's age.

"You look tired, Kate." Alexis observed.

"Yeah, well, I feel tired." Kate confessed.

"Maybe you should stay the night here, mom." Amelia suggested.

Kate shook her head.

"Just one night, mom."

"I can't, Amelia."

Amelia did not hide the fact that she was worried about her mother and knew that it was useless trying to argue with her. This was not the first time she had brought up the suggestion of Kate staying the night but just like all the other times, her mother's answer had been the same. Despite knowing what the answer was going to be it did not stop Amelia from bringing it up again. A love of coffee was not the only thing she had inherited from her mother. Stubbornness with a liberal dash of persistence was another thing.

"Are you coming to visit today?" Kate asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, I'll be there, mom." Amelia replied. "I'm going with Alexis."

Kate turned and looked at Alexis.

"We'll be there around three pm, Kate." Alexis informed her.

"Good."

Kate finished her coffee and set the empty mug down on the counter. She rose from the stool.

"Well, I'll see you all at three." She announced as she pulled her daughter into a hug.

XXX

The black SUV passed through the front gates of the Seabrook Retirement village and drove steadily along the tree lined road towards the parking lot. In the back seat of the SUV Kate closed the file she had been reading on the journey and returned it to her briefcase. She closed the briefcase and looked out the window. She rubbed her tired eyes. Recently she had gotten reading glasses but she used them only when she really had to. It had more to do with vanity than anything else.

She felt a nervous flutter in the pit of her stomach. He had been sleeping when she had popped into his room early in the morning before she headed to the office. As she stood in the darkness of his room watching him, he looked like the man she had married. She was feeling a little nervous because she wondered how he would be when she saw him.

Of late the bad days were outweighing the good and things did not look like they were going to change any time soon, if at all. She tried not to think about what the future might hold because that only brought more pain than she could endure.

Kate had been lost in her thoughts that she was startled by her door opening. Shaking off her thoughts she looked out and saw Detective Karpowski holding the door open for her. She slowly stepped out of the vehicle and nodded her thanks to the detective.

"He's over in the garden, Commissioner." Karpowski said quietly.

Kate did not need to ask how the detective knew that. A couple of members of her protection detail were posted here at the nursing home permanently when she was not here. They kept a discrete and unobtrusive watch.

"Thank you." Kate replied. "Ah..um could someone take my things to my room, please?"

"No problem, Commissioner."

Kate walked slowly away from the car park and made her way towards the entrance to the retirement village's luscious gardens. She had just reached the gates of the gardens when Detective Karpowski spoke again.

"Commissioner, you forgot this."

Kate stopped and turned around. She saw the detective holding out a thick black leather bound notebook. Her eyes dropped to the notebook and slowly shook her head. How could she have forgotten the book, she thought to herself? Reaching out she took the notebook and nodded her gratitude.

He liked having her read to him. She had been doing it from the moment he had moved into the retirement home. She had read all his Nikki Heat novels to him as well as most of the James Bond novels. He especially liked it when she had read _Casino Royale_ to him. He had told her that he did not know why he liked that book but he did. Kate knew why he liked that book. Years ago he had told her the story when he had been given the book to read in the New York Public Library by his father. It had been the book that had inspired him to become a writer.

Kate had even read to him many of his Derrick Storm novels but it was the story in the notebook that he responded to the best. It made him smile more.

She clutched the notebook closely to her as she turned and faced the garden entrance. She stood there hesitating for a moment or two. She chided herself for feeling anxious. After all had she not gone up against dangerous murderers and rapists, serial killers, the most dangerous of gang leaders and brought them all down? Had she not gotten the better of Mayors and City Councillors, Senators and Congressmen who all thought they could ride roughshod over her only to realise much too late that she was one determined woman and not to be messed with? She had no reason to be feeling anxious. Yet she always felt a little anxious before she went to see him. Anxious at what she might find when she saw him. Anxious that he might not recognise her. It had happened before.

A couple of minutes later Kate was walking across the recently mown lawn towards a bench where a tall man was sitting enjoying the warm sun. He was dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a blue coloured shirt with a dark blue sleeveless woollen cardigan. Slippers covered his white socked feet. His hands were resting in his lap folded together. He was gazing off into the distance.

Standing beside the bench was one of the retirement home's nurses. A male nurse by the name of Keith. He was a dark bear of a man who had been a linebacker for some minor football team in a previous life before doing a stint in the army as a combat medic and nurse, after which geriatric care became his life's calling. Though his physique looked intimidating Keith was a gentle caring soul and very protective of his charges. Keith spotted her approach and bent down to whisper something in his patient's ear.

Kate saw him turn his head in her direction. She found herself picking up her pace, practically skipping towards him.

"Hey, Kate."

The way he said her name almost made her knees go weak. There was timbre in that voice. The one she called his bedroom voice. The voice that she had found she could never resist but it was the smile that he greeted her with that set her heart racing a little bit, making her a little breathless. He had remembered her.

"Hey yourself, Castle." Kate smiled back. "May I join you?"

"That would be nice."

Kate glanced at Keith and saw the man smile and nod his head. She took it to mean that Castle was having a good day. Slowly she sat down beside Castle. She looked at her husband with a loving expression on her face. Castle had grown old, there were many age lines marring his face but they were not enough to hide the ruggedly handsome features that she had been drawn to all those years ago and was still drawn to. His hair had thinned and had turned grey. She had to resist the urge to reach out to try and comb out the unruliness with her fingers, not wanting to startle him.

His eyes were still as blue as ever but the insidious disease that was slowly destroying him had dimmed the spark that she always loved to see. That spark of joy and mischief, of intelligence and compassion. That look that marvelled at the magic that was all around and had convinced her of the possibility of magic, making her a firm believer too. Worst of all, gone was the look that he reserved only for her. The look that spoke volumes of his love for her. The look that always made her heart flip and her stomach do somersaults and never failed to make her feel special.

Today there was recognition but that was not always the case. There were some days when he did not recognise her at all. Those were the worst days of all for her. On those days she had to carefully and painfully, and ever so gently draw him back from that horrible world he had retreated. On those sorts of days she was usually successful but not always. On the days when she was not successful she retired to her room and cried her eyes out and cursed the Universe for what it had done to him.

"Did you bring the book?" Castle asked hesitantly.

"Would you like me to read to you?"

Castle nodded his head.

"I like it when you read to me."

Kate smiled as she turned her attention to the notebook in her lap. She opened it and slowly flipped through the pages searching for the bookmarked page.

"Do you remember where we left off?" She asked him.

From out of the corner of her eye she watched Castle frown as he searched his memory trying to remember where the story had finished. Slowly his face cleared as he turned to look at her.

"She was in trouble with her captain?" He offered hesitantly.

"Yes, that's right." Kate said with delight. She smiled at him

Finding the right page Kate glanced at her husband.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

Kate took a deep breath and commenced reading from the notebook:

_Beckett stood stock still in Captain Gates' office as the Captain angrily berated her and her partner Esposito for dishonouring the city and the badge they carried over what they had done. Beckett knew she had done the wrong thing. It had been stupid to go after the dangerous hitman on her own. She did not need to be told that by her captain. She had realised it the moment she was flung off the side of the building and was forced to hang by her fingers._

_As she had been clinging on for dear life, she had realised something else. It was something far more important than hunting down the man who had ordered the murder of her mother. She had realised that she may have lost the one man she had truly ever loved. The pain of that hurt more than any assassin's bullet could ever inflict. The pain of that hurt even more than the years of pain she had endured following the death of her mother._

_When the captain had told them they were being suspended and demanded their badges, Beckett had taken it out and glanced at it for a moment or two before she placed it on the captain's desk. She told her captain that she could keep her badge because she resigned._

_Without looking back she walked out of the captain's office leaving both Captain Gates and Esposito stunned. Beckett did not look back as she marched out of the precinct that had been her home for many years, the place that had given her life meaning and purpose. She did not care about her job or her career. It was not important any more_

_Beckett did not go home right away. Instead she just walked through the streets of New York. It started raining but she continued to walk. While most New Yorkers rushed to get out of the rain, Beckett just continued to walk. When afternoon turned to evening she still kept walking._

_She found herself in a deserted park and came to a halt in front of a swing set. It took her some moments to realise it was the very same swing set where she and Rick had sat and talked about the aftermath of her shooting. It was where she had tried to tell him how she felt towards him. She sat down on one of the swings and in the pouring rain slowly rocked herself wondering how she had managed to mess up her life so much._

_After what seemed like an eternity Beckett got to her feet. She resolved that she would go and see him and beg his forgiveness._

"_Rick opened the door and stared at the wet and bedraggled creature standing in his doorway. In his surprise to see Beckett standing before him his face started to break into a welcoming smile. Almost immediately his face closed down as he remembered their last fight, the one that had broken his heart._

"_Beckett, what do you want?" He demanded._

"_You." Beckett replied._

_Before Rick had a chance to respond to that, Beckett burst through the door and launched herself at him. Rick was stunned by her kisses. Beckett rested her forehead against his, trying to catch her breath._

"_I'm so sorry." She whispered to him in a cracking voice. "I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry."_

_Beckett made to kiss him again but Rick gently pushed her away. He was still angry with her but it was a gentle push. He looked at her face..."_

"I wish I could write a story like that." Castle remarked, interrupting the story.

Kate choked back a sob and had to look away so that he did not see the tears that welled in her eyes. She bit down on her lip desperately wanting to tell him that he had written this story. He had written _their_ story and in his own handwriting in the notebook she was holding. It was only a couple of months ago when she had discovered the notebook. She had been going through his office looking for something when she had come across it. He had started writing it not long after he had been diagnosed with Alzheimers. She realised that she had written their story not only for her but more importantly for him. For that day when he could no longer remember.

"I just wish I could figure how this story ends, though." Castle muttered to himself.

Kate brushed the tears from her eyes and quickly composed herself. Casting a glance she saw that Castle was staring into the distance. She looked down at the page ready to start ready again.

"Your children are here." Keith announced.

Castle turned and looked at the man, surprised.

"Children?"

"Not yours, hers."

"Oh."

Kate closed the notebook and saw her family cautiously approaching. She smiled on seeing that Alexis had brought her two children with her for this visit, Elizabeth and Claire. The two teenage girls had definitely taken after their mother with flame coloured locks and blue eyes. Elizabeth, the elder of the two looked pleased to be here. Claire on the other hand had a sullen expression on her face as if she wanted to be anywhere but here right now.

Beside Alexis was Amelia who had changed into a pair of jeans and a black leather jacket. From this distance Kate was not sure if her middle child was wearing her old leather motorbike leather jacket and boots but she would not have put it past Amelia.

Walking next to Amelia was Kate's eldest child Sarah. She was a woman aged twenty-four, of average height, light brown coloured hair and an easy going smile on her lips. The smile deepened when she looked at her mother. Sarah had followed her maternal grandparents into the law and had recently started work at the same law firm where her mother and father had once worked. In her arms Sarah carried her young daughter, the eighteen month old Johanna.

What surprised Kate most of all was seeing her youngest walking beside Sarah. It warmed her heart no end on seeing her son, James. The last time she and her son had spoken it was to argue over when she would be coming home. It had become so heated that James had ended the call by slamming the phone down in her ear. It did not escape her notice there was a contrite expression on his face and she suspected that his sisters had ganged up on him. It was always the case that the Castle women kept the Castle men in line.

"I hope you don't mind, Castle." Kate said as she looked at him.

"I'd love to meet them." Castle replied and smiled. He continued to smile as he turned to look at the group of people that had come to a halt in front of the bench.

It was Sarah who broke the spell of awkwardness that had descended. She stepped forward and greeted her mother with a peck on the cheek.

"Hi mom."

"Hi sweetheart, how are you?"

Sarah turned and smiled at Castle.

"Hi, I'm Sarah." She said holding out a hand to Castle.

"Hi, I'm Castle." Castle replied as he shook Sarah's hand. His smile brightened as he looked at the baby in Sarah's arm. "And who is this pretty young lady?"

"Her name's Johanna." Sarah informed him.

"Hello, Johanna." Castle wiggled his fingers at the baby.

The baby responded with a happy gurgle and a smile. Kate chuckled and shook her head. Even now he still had the ability to make babies smile for him. He had been able to do it with each of their children when they had been babies. It was one of his superpowers as he liked to call it.

Kate bit nervously on her bottom lips as she watched as the others in turn introduced themselves to Castle. A part of her desperately hoped that today he would recognise one or all of his children or grandchildren. Sadly, just like the other times he greeted them all as if he was meeting them for the first time. What hurt even more for Kate was seeing the pain in her children's smiles, knowing that their father did not recognise them.

After the introductions were done there was a minute where there was awkward silence with nobody knowing what to do or say. Castle suddenly stirred turning to Kate.

"You know, I think I'll go and take my afternoon nap, alright?"

Kate nodded her head forcing a smile to her face.

Keith moved forward and to help Castle. Castle struggled to his feet and he clung to Keith's arm.

"Let's get you back, Mr Castle." Keith said.

"I'll read to you some more later, okay?" Kate said.

"That would be nice, thanks."

Castle turned and looked at the gathered people and smiled at them.

"I'm so happy to meet you all. Good-bye." He said gently.

His family murmured their goodbyes.

Kate watched silently as Castle slowly shuffled along the path that led to one of the accommodation buildings. She brushed the tears that had welled in her eyes.

"He seems good today." James remarked, turning his attention to his mother.

"He is good." Kate forced a smile to her face as she turned to look at her children. "I don't know, there's something about today. Maybe it's a day for a miracle."

"Mom, come home." Amelia demanded.

"Daddy doesn't know us." Sarah added unhappily. "He doesn't recognise you, he doesn't recognise us. He'll never understand."

"We miss you." Amelia stated.

"This is crazy, you living here, mom." James said with some bitterness.

"You know we'll all help with dad." Sarah said, a little more conciliatory. "We can take shifts visiting."

"You know we will." James added.

Kate found herself slowly shaking her head.

"Look, guys." Kate said in a firm tone of voice, getting all of their attention. "That's my sweetheart in there."

She looked at her children each in turn to make sure that the none of them spoke. She took a deep calming breath before she spoke.

"Your father never gave up on me. Even when I did my damnedest to push him away. He never gave up. Well, I'm not going to give up on him either. He said always and he meant it. So do I. I'm not leaving him. This is my home...Your father is my home, always has been, always will be."

"But mom..." Amelia and James said in unison.

Kate held up a hand as if she was warding off further arguing. She snuffled back tears that threatened.

"Guys, Enough!" Alexis barked. Her sisters and brother turned to look at her, startled. "Give us a couple of minutes."

Her siblings hesitated a moment but then slowly they turned and one by one started to walk back the way they had come. Alexis turned to her own kids urged them to follow their aunts and uncle. Elizabeth and Claire nodded their heads and quickly ran to catch up to the others.

Alexis came and sat down on the bench beside Kate in the spot that her father had vacated. She reached over and took Kate's hand giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Thanks, Alexis."

"Hey, I got a little nervous when I saw one of your detectives reaching inside his jacket for his gun."

Kate huffed out a laugh.

"Are you going to lecture me too, now that the kids are gone?" Kate asked.

"Would it work?"

"No."

"Then no. No lecture."

Kate leaned back on the bench and with her free hand wiped away her tears.

"They don't understand, Kate." Alexis said gently. "They don't know the entire story."

Kate turned to Alexis and gave her a questioning look.

"You have to remember that they came in a third of the way into the story. Over the years I know you and Dad have told them some of what happened back then but they don't know all of it. They did not live through it, so they don't understand. They don't really know about the serial killers, or about apartments blowing up. They don't know about the dirty bomb or plunging into the Hudson whilst trying to prevent a war. They don't know about what you went through to find your mom's killer. They certainly don't know about that toxin that almost killed Dad or the bullet that nearly took your life. And they certainly don't understand how because all of that, everything you and Dad went through, made you so devoted to each other."

Kate gave Alexis a watery smile as she shifted and pulled her eldest daughter into a big hug.

"How do you do it, Alexis?" Kate asked in a low voice.

"The same way you do, Kate." Alexis replied. "Have a cry when no one's looking, then wipe away the tears and get on with it and hoping that today will be the day when a miracle will happen."

Alexis broke the embrace and slowly got to her feet. Kate rose from the bench as well.

"I'd better get going." Alexis said.

Kate nodded her head.

"Will you be coming to lunch tomorrow?" Alexis asked.

"I'll be there at twelve o'clock." Kate promised.

XXX

Kate relaxed in the back seat of the SUV as it travelled out of the city. Traffic was surprisingly light for this late Sunday afternoon she observed as she glanced out of the window. Most of the traffic was heading back into the city rather than heading out of it.

She had left the family Sunday lunch much later than she had originally intended. On reflection the lunch had been more enjoyable than she had expected. She had felt a little trepidation when she had arrived at the loft at the promised time. Sure enough there had been a continuation of the arguments by her children from the day before but thankfully it had not been as heated like it had been yesterday. And it did not go for long. A truce of sorts had been reached pretty quickly. The truce had been brokered by Alexis and everyone had maintained it.

As family lunches went it was a good one, Kate thought to herself. There had been a lot of laughter. The most enjoyable had been the time she had spent with her granddaughter, Johanna. She never got to spend as much time as she wanted to with the baby girl.

The smile that had been playing on Kate's lips transformed into a wince. Her hand reached up to her chest and slowly rubbed it. A bout of indigestion, she thought to herself as she rubbed her chest a little harder, or perhaps heartburn. She had eaten a little more than she normally did. Alexis had made sure that she had eaten a proper meal.

The pain in her chest faded as quickly as it had flared and she dropped her hand from her chest. She closed her eyes and quietly reflected on the enjoyable family Sunday lunch.

The SUV came to a stop at the front entrance of the main accommodation building of the retirement village. Kate was a little surprised to discover on stepping out of the vehicle that evening had fallen. She nodded her thanks to her protection detail, wished them a good night and entered the building.

As she walked towards the ward Kate felt another pain in her chest flare up. She winced at the sharpness of the pain and reminded herself to get something for it a little later. Reaching the desk she forced a smile to her face.

Keith the nurse was on duty behind the desk he looked up from his computer screen and greeted Kate with a smile.

"Good evening, Commissioner."

"Good evening, Keith."

Kate had giving up trying long ago to get the man to call her by her name rather than her title.

"Is he in his room?" Kate inquired pointing to the door that was Castle's room.

"Actually, he's in the lounge room, Commissioner." Keith replied. "He's been asking for you. I reckon he's fretting a little."

The smile faded from Kate's face as she felt a little guilty for having spent so much time with her family.

"Thanks, Keith."

Kate turned from the front desk and moved quickly down the corridor to the lounge room. She came to a halt in the doorway and peered into the room. She found Castle seated on the couch and watching some old black and white science fiction movie on the television. Off in a corner sat Estelle one of the ward nurses. She was keeping one eye on Castle and a magazine with the other. Estelle spotted Kate in the doorway. She closed the magazine and rose to her feet. She gave Kate a nod of greeting as she made her way out of the room via another door giving them privacy.

Kate took a step into the room and cautiously approached the couch. She glanced at the television before looking at Castle. There was a blank expression on his face as he watched the movie. If he had been fretting about missing her he was not now, or he had forgotten.

Hearing someone approach Castle slowly dragged his eyes from the television and looked up. The blank look on his face slowly began to transform.

"Oh, hello." Castle said.

Kate returned the smile before she sat down on a chair opposite the couch. Castle turned his gaze back to the movie. Kate watched the movie for a couple of moments before she recognised what she was watching. It was the original _The Day The Earth Stood Still. _The last time she had seen this film had been about ten years ago when the Angelika had a late Saturday night double feature with this film and _Forbidden Planet._ Castle had dragged her to it. Well, he did not really have to drag her. If she remembered rightly, Castle had been fired up with the idea of getting himself a life size statue of the robot GORT. She had put her foot down over that. It was bad enough having Bobba Fet in the assuaged his pouting disappointment by getting him a small bronze GORT statue from Comicadia. How he loved that statue. It still sat in pride of place on one of the shelves in his office.

"Do you like this movie?" Kate asked.

"It's okay." Castle shrugged. "There are better ones though."

"Yeah."

"They told me you had gone to visit your family."

"That's right. Sunday lunch." Kate informed him.

"Okay."

Castle slowly turned from the television and looked at Kate.

"Remember that story you were reading to me?" Castle asked.

"Yes." Kate nodded. "Do you want me to go and get it and read to you some more?"

Castle hook his head.

"Do you think that I could be him tonight?" He asked.

Kate frowned a little not understanding his question. "Who?"

"Rick." Castle said, his face beginning to become animated. "Would that be alright?"

"I think it would be alright." Kate smiled warmly.

Castle shifted on the couch turning his whole body towards Kate, an eager smile growing on his face.

"You know what we could do?"

"What's that?"

"Maybe we could get a car and we could go for a ride." Castle suggested with growing excitement.

"A ride?"

"Yeah. We could get out of here and just go some place. Hey you want to go to Remys for a burger? What do you say?"

Kate would have loved nothing more than to jump in a car with him and drive away from here. Drive to one of their favourite places. As much as she would have loved to do that she knew that was not going to be possible.

"I don't think so." Kate replied unhappily. "Not tonight, babe."

"Oh, come on, why not?" The smile on Castle's face began to recede and then a moment later vanished completely. A look of puzzlement replaced it. The light that had been sparkling in his blue eyes was extinguished.

"Wait a minute...why did you call me babe? I don't know you."

Kate felt a stab of pain as she watched him withdraw. She started to lean towards him but stopped when he shifted away from her.

"What's going on here?" Castle said a little frantically. "Am I supposed to know you?"

"Castle." Kate pleaded.

"No, no...no!"

Kate reached out and tried to take his hand.

"Castle, I love you." Kate said. "I love you, stay with me...don't leave..."

"No!" Castle shouted. "Who are you?"

"I'm Kate and you're Rick Castle."

"What do you want?" Castle shouted. "What are you doing here?"

"Come on, babe."

"Don't come near me!"

"Castle."

"Don't come near me!"

"Please Castle...Rick..."

"Help! Help!" Castle screamed. "Help me!

Castle reached the end of the couch and started struggling, wanting to get up. To get away from Kate.

"Calm down Castle, calm down." Kate begged while keeping her distance.

Keith came rushing into the room on hearing the disturbance. He ran over to the couch and swiftly put his arms around the struggling Castle.

"Calm down, Mr Castle." Keith said soothingly. "It's alright."

"No! Let me go!" Castle shouted. "Let me go!"

"Calm down Rick. It's going to be alright." Kate said as tears streamed down her face.

For a couple of minutes she had to watch as her husband struggled to break free from Keith's hold, screaming and shouting all the time. Estelle came in and quickly administered a sedative and within a minute Castle had calmed down.

"It's going to be alright, Mr Castle." Keith said gently. "Okay just breathe."

Castle did as he was told. He did not protest when Keith lifted him as gently as if he was holding a baby and placed him on a guerney. With Estelle's help they wheeled him out of the room.

"He's gonna be alright, Commissioner." Keith assured her.

Kate nodded her head. Tears continued to fall down her face. She had never seen Castle like this. There had been plenty of times when he had shown petulance and anger but she had never seen such terror on his face.

Slowly she rose to her feet and snuffled back the tears. She clutched at her chest, finding hard to breathe. She turned and ran from the room. Reaching her own room she slammed the door closed. The pain in her chest blossomed and her face constricted. She let out a small strangled cry as she fell to the floor.

XXX

Detective Steven Karpowski checked his watch again as he walked along the corridor towards the Commissioner's room. It was six-thirty in the morning. It was unusual for the Commissioner to be late but not unique. What bothered him the most had been that she had answered her phone. The two times he had called.

"Morning Estelle." Detective Karpowski said as he reached the front desk.

"Morning, Detective."

"Is the Commissioner up?"

The smile on the nurse's face faded.

"She's maybe sleeping in this morning." Estelle explained.

Karpowski started to frown.

"Mr Castle had a bit of turn last evening." The nurse explained.

Karpowski nodded his head in understanding and quickly marched over to the Commissioner's door. He rapped his knuckled on the door and opened it. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness.

"Excuse me, Commissioner." He called.

He saw the figure laying on the floor.

"Estelle, get a doctor now!" He shouted as he rushed over to Kate.

He placed his fingers on Kate's neck and barely felt a pulse. He reached for his microphone.

"This is Karpowski, the Commissioner's down. Get a bus ASAP!"

XXX

Kate woke from a long nap. A glance to the clock on the bedside table told her that she had slept for longer than she had indented. It was late in the evening. For a couple of minutes she lay there in bed in the darkness, gathering her thoughts. She was happy to be back in her own bed. The pain in her chest was still there but she could live with it. The meds they had given her seemed to make the pain a little more bearable. It was not as if she was not used to pain in the chest.

She knew that she should still be in hospital but after a couple of days she could not stand it any longer. She had to get out and come home. She had to be close to him. Her doctors had been against it when she had mentioned about getting out. Her entire family had been against it. Even her protection detail was against it. The Beckett stubbornness had come to the fore again. She ignored the advice of her doctors and family.

She felt a little bad she had to guilt Detective Karpowski and his detail to help make her escape from the hospital without her doctors finding out. No doubt he would cop hell from his superiors for the escapade but she suspected the man did not care. He knew why she wanted to get out of the hospital.

Pulling aside the blankets Kate swung her feet out of the bed and set them on the floor. She winced at the pain her action caused but she pushed through it. She put her feet into the slippers and slowly rose from the bed. She picked up the dressing gown from a chair and put it on. She tied the sash and shuffled her way to the door.

Kate slowly stepped into the corridor and commenced her journey to Castle's room. She had to pass the front desk and she noticed Keith on duty behind the desk.

"Commissioner Beckett, welcome back." Keith said with a smile.

"Hello, Keith."

The smile on the nurse's face faded.

"Shouldn't you still be in hospital?" He questioned with narrowed eyes.

Kate shrugged her shoulders.

"The hospital food disagreed with me." She offered.

"Uh-huh. So how do you feel?"

"I'm fine." Kate smiled brightly. "Fit as a fiddle."

Kate started to walk away.

"Where are you going, Commissioner?"

"I was just taking a walk." Kate replied. "I can't sleep."

"Well, you do know you're not supposed to at this hour." Keith reminded her. "It's against the rules."

"Yeah, I know." Kate looked contritely as she replied.

"You weren't really going for a walk, were you?" Keith said pointedly. "You were going to see Mr Castle."

Kate let out a low sigh as she looked at the nurse.

"Look, I just broke out of hospital because I missed him."

"Commissioner, I'm sorry, but I can't let you see him tonight." Keith stated. "Now, you're gonna have to go back to your room."

Kate did not disguise the disappointment she felt at what Keith had just said. She was about to open her mouth to protest. To beg even.

"Now, as for me." Keith continued, glancing at his watch. "I'm gonna to go down to the staff lounge and get myself a cup of coffee and maybe some cookies that Nurse Erica brought in, they're really good I'm told. So, I wont be back to check on you for a while. So don't do anything foolish."

Tears well in her eyes as she mouthed a grateful 'thank you'. She watched Keith come around the desk and head off down the corridor in the opposite direction. Kate quickly made her way to Castle's room.

She slowly pushed open the door and entered. The room was bathed in soft lamp light. Castle was laying in bed his head turned towards the door. A smile started to spread across his face when he recognised Kate.

"Hey." Kate said in a low voice.

"Kate."

Kate walked over to the bed.

"Kate." Castle whispered, his smile deepening.

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to be here to read to you."

"I didn't know what to do." Castle told her. "I was afraid you were never coming back."

Kate reached out and took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I'll always come back." Kate told him. "Always."

Castle nodded his head slowly as if that was all the confirmation he needed.

"You want to cuddle?" He grinned.

Kate looked down at him and saw that it was her husband grinning back at her.

"I'd like that a lot."

Castle lifted up his blankets and shifted in the bed making room for her. Kate smiled as she kicked off her slippers and slowly climbed into bed. Castle let the blankets fall over them as Kate snuggled up close to him, resting her head in the crook of his shoulder. She draped her hand across his broad chest and smiled as she felt his arms around her. Her chest was hurting but now that she was in his arms the pain did not hurt all that much. His hand stroking her hair seemed to draw away the pain from her.

They lay like that for some minutes, in silence, enjoying each other.

"They told me that you had been sick." Castle said, breaking the silence.

"Who told you?"

"Your daughter...the one with the red hair." Castle explained slowly. "She came by and told me that you had been taken to hospital."

Kate was not surprised to hear that Alexis had come to tell him that she had been taken to hospital. It eased some of the guilt she felt thinking he had been left alone. At the same time she wanted to tell him that Alexis was his daughter too. She did not though, not wanting to confuse him too much.

"Yeah, I was."

"Are you alright?"

"I am now."

"Good, so am I."

Kate felt Castle drop a kiss on the top of her head. She closed her eyes and smiled. In this moment she was transported back to before his illness. Slowly she started to stroke his chest.

"Kate, what's going to happen when I can't remember any more?" Castle said. "What will you do?"

"I'll be here." Kate replied. "I'll never leave you."

"I need to ask you something."

"What is it Castle?"

"Do you think our love can create miracles?"

Kate buried her face into his chest to hide the tears that threatened. She did not have to think about that question because she already knew the answer. His love had saved her from being forever lost down the rabbit hole. His love had chipped away at that rock hard wall she had built around her heart, rendering it to dust and rubble. His love had made her a stronger person because he believed in her. Their love had created three beautiful children and a wonderful family, and so much more.

Slowly she lifted her head so that she could see his face,

"Yes, yes I do." She told him. "That's what brings you back to me each time.

Castle smiled and nodded his head.

"Kate, do you think our love could take us away together?"

"I think our love can do anything we want it to."

Kate felt her stomach flutter the way it used to when he gave her a big beaming smile.

"I love you, Kate Beckett." Castle whispered.

"I love you, Richard Castle."

Kate leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. She felt him tighten his arms around her as he responded to her kiss.

"Night, Castle." She said softly.

"Until the morning, Kate." He replied.

Kate smiled as she rested her head against his and closed her eyes. Almost immediately she succumbed to the call of sleep.

XXX

Keith returned to his desk carrying with him a cup of coffee. He checked his watched and chuckled to himself. He'd been away from his post for a little over an hour and a half. He should check on Castle, he thought to himself. Setting the cup on the counter he walked over to Castle's room. He knocked softly and opened the door. He found them in bed in each other's arms at peace and with a smile on their faces.

A sad smile reached his lips as he gazed at the couple. He had worked at Seabrook for many years not to recognise death when he saw it. He quietly closed the door.

XXXXX

_**This story had been sitting on my computer half finished for some time now. On hearing the sad news of the passing of one of my favourite actors James Garner I decided to finish it. As usual, I would love to hear what you think of this effort.**_

_**Con**_


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